Conor McGregor seemed a changed man before his rematch with Dustin Poirier, pledging to donate $500,000 (£367,000) to the Good Fight Foundation, a charity Poirier runs with his wife Jolie.

Poirier also has his own brand of Louisiana hot sauce and McGregor said he was "delighted" to receive a bottle from Poirier at the weigh-in.

This time round, McGregor said he "didn't touch" that bottle yet called the sauce "garbage". He said "your wife is your husband" and chanted "Jolie's wife, Jolie's wife".

He also said Poirier was James 'Buster' Douglas, the 42-1 underdog who pulled off one of sport's greatest upsets by beating Mike Tyson in 1990.

"He's going to be known for that," said McGregor. "It was a fluke win and I'm going to correct it on Saturday night."

Poirier, the favourite for this fight, responded by saying "I don't hate anybody up here. I'm in a different place mentally. Respect to him and everything that he's done."

And when one reporter pointed out to McGregor that he had won one fight since Barack Obama was US president (January 2017), he said "shut your mouth, I'll smash your nose in, you little rat".

Asked why fans should expect anything different after being knocked out in the second round in January, McGregor ignored the question.

Image source, Reuters

Conor McGregor is looking to avoid a third defeat from his last four fights - and the first back-to-back losses of his career.

But that hasn't stopped him producing the 'billionaire strut' in the octagon.

Image source, Getty/PA

Jack Shore
Welsh UFC bantamweight on BBC Radio 5 Live

The intensity on that walkout reminds you of the McGregor of old. This guy has achieved everything in the sport but this could well be his toughest fight to date.

If he doesn’t win this time, where does he go? There’s no excuses this time.

Image source, Reuters

Nick Peet
MMA journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think Conor realises what's at stake and I believe the very best McGregor beats the very best Poirier. I think it'll be a second-round knockout for Conor.

Who are you backing? Hit thumbs up for Poirier, thumbs down for McGregor.

Gilbert Burns claims a unanimous decision over Stephen Thompson...

It's time for the main event.

Image source, Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Nick Peet
MMA journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

The very best version of Dustin Poirier we’ve ever seen will walk into this octagon in a few minutes’ time.

This is Poirier at his peak and I don’t think I’ve said that about McGregor in a long, long time.

Image source, Reuters

McGregor knocked out Poirier inside two minutes in the first fight. Poirier claimed a second-round knockout in the rematch. How about third time round?

"McGregor's got so many tools but didn't get to use them in the last fight," said Jack Shore.

"He's going to come out fast. He knows he needs to take Dustin out early. If it goes late, it's Dustin."

Before the rematch in January, Nick Peet was watching a "new, calm and collected Conor" walking around Fight Island "without a care in the world".

"There was no kind of animosity in him, he seemed so relaxed," he said. "I think once he got inside the octagon he was maybe a bit too calm and collected.

"But what version of Conor McGregor is this going to be? How many times can this guy reinvent himself?"

McGregor lived on a yacht with his family at Fight Island. He left them back in Ireland for his latest training camp, at a specially-constructed gym in California.

"He seems like the old McGregor," said Jack Shore. "He's gone away, isolated himself and we've not seen a massive amount behind the scenes. It's all very secretive.

"I've got a lot more anticipation for this one because I genuinely don't know which Conor will turn up."

Image source, Reuters

Normal service resumed at a heated press conference for the trilogy fight as McGregor attempted to kick out at the American while the pair faced off.

The Irishman also vowed to make UFC 264 "the end of the road" for Poirier.

It feels like a lifetime ago when this trilogy began.

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier were two of the most promising contenders in the featherweight division when they first met in 2014.

And after a heated build-up, McGregor knocked out the American in under two minutes. Poirier now admits the Irishman "got into my head" before the fight.

McGregor went on to become a superstar, winning both the featherweight and lightweight titles, and facing boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in a crossover bout.

Poirier, meanwhile, switched to lightweight and gradually worked his way up the rankings to earn a rematch with McGregor in January on Fight Island.

This time it was refreshing to see the pair show mutual respect, but that approach seemingly backfired for McGregor as Poirier outwitted him to claim a second-round knockout.

The win was so convincing that McGregor couldn't expect to challenge for UFC gold again without settling the score with Poirier and completing the trilogy, and Poirier turned down the opportunity to fight for the lightweight title (when it was vacant) for the chance to prove it was no fluke.

Image source, Getty Images

Fans? At the T-Mobile Arena? Yep, you heard me right.

This is the UFC's first Las Vegas event to welcome a full capacity since the pandemic, with the 20,800 tickets selling out in seconds.

And I have to say people... it looks and sounds so good!!

Team owners are also there from the New England Patriots (Robert Kraft), Las Vegas Raiders (Mark Jones) and... Wrexham AFC (Rob McElhenney).

Image source, Stacy Revere/Getty Images

And this one really got the boys going... Australia's Tai Tuivasa knocked out ex-NFL player Greg Hardy in just over a minute of their heavyweight fight.

Tuivasa then celebrated with a 'shoey' - drinking beer from a shoe - in the octagon. He was handed another by one of the fans as he made his way back to the locker room and knocked that one back too.

Image source, Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Mexico's Irene Aldana of Mexico then beat a bloodied Yana Kunitskaya of Russia in the first round of their catchweight bout.

Image source, Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

The main card kicked off with Sean O'Malley, one of the most exciting stars in UFC, delivering a lot of punishment before stopping late stand-in Kris Moutinho with 23 seconds left of the final round.

Moutinho took the fight at 11 days' notice. He took some damage, but the BBC Radio 5 Live team felt he earned the right to take it to a points decision.

The main card is well under way, with Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson currently in the octagon, waiting for the arrival of Gilbert Burns for their welterweight bout in the co-main event.

Thompson, a former kickboxing world champion, told BBC Radio 5 Live this week that he's prepared for the "hardest three five-minute rounds known to mankind".

The American, 38, hopes a win over the Brazilian could lead to a welterweight world title shot.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Nick Peet joined UFC commentator John Gooden and Welsh UFC fighter Jack Shore on the BBC's latest UFC podcast this week to look ahead to UFC 264.

And the boys are back tonight/this morning with live commentary on Conor McGregor's trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.

Click on the audio icon above to listen along... while you follow my live text, of course.

Nick Peet
MMA journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think so. We've had some crackers, certainly in the heavyweight division, but anything involving Conor McGregor is the biggest in UFC history. The five biggest pay-per-view sales all involved Conor McGregor, he's the common narrative in those fights. He's the biggest star we've ever seen in the sport so this is huge.

People are also buying into the fact this could be Conor's last dance. If he loses, people in the sport realise he falls out of contention for the UFC lightweight championship.

And people outside the sport, the casual fans that tune in just for Conor, if they were to see him lose back-to-back, his star would certainly dwindle.

That would affect his position as the biggest pay-per-view draw and could signal the beginning of the end for Conor McGregor the superstar.

...whatever you want to call it, this is big. UFC president Dana White said on Thursday it could break the UFC pay-per-view record.

On one side we have the UFC's first two-weight world champion, the biggest name in MMA history.

On the other, we have the number one lightweight contender, who outwitted McGregor just six months ago.

The winner is expected to face new lightweight champion Charles Oliveira before the end of 2021.

So McGregor has the chance to settle the score with Poirier and regain a UFC world title. But could suffering back-to-back defeats - for the first time in his career - mean his days as the UFC's biggest name are numbered?

Image source, Reuters

The final chapter in the trilogy between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor will be written later this morning as the lightweight superstars settle the score in the main event of UFC 264.

Follow BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra commentary of the main card from UFC commentator John Gooden, MMA journalist Nick Peet and undefeated bantamweight star Jack Shore.

And we'll have live text commentary for you here from around 04:30 BST.

Enjoy!