Dustin Poirier has spent his career chasing world titles, so he’s never been all that focused on a single opponent, though there’s at least one fight he wanted where it seems unlikely he’ll ever get it.
After his fight against Nate Diaz was cancelled, 2018, Poirier pursued that fight. The bout did not come together despite Poirier’s best efforts.
Diaz will soon be leaving the UFC as a free agent after completing his contract. This casts doubt on whether he will ever fight in the promotion, and even less Poirier.
While it isn’t something Poirier finds overwhelming, he admits that wishing the Diaz fight would have happened prior to his departure from UFC.
“I’ve always wanted to fight Nate,” Poirier said during UFC 280 media day. “We tried to make it happen a few times. It always fell apart. It sucks that he’s gone now, and I won’t get that chance to fight him. But it is what it is, the sport moves on.”
While Diaz may be the winner, Poirier is often asked about the possibility of facing Conor McGregor once again. This even though he has won two victories over him in the two-division UFC division.
These days, McGregor has bulked up in weight while filming his role in the upcoming Road House reboot. There have been no signals about when he may compete again. McGregor has also been removed from the UFC’s anti-doping program, which means he’ll have to complete six months of drug testing before he can book a fight.
That said, Poirier doesn’t really seem interested in running it back with McGregor. He’s already been there, done that, and he’s got different goals in the sport than chasing another fight with the Irish superstar.
” I’m not certain,” Poirier stated about McGregor fighting again. “You never know in this sport. I don’t know if he’s coming back, what weight class, I’m not sure. Never say never but it’s not looking like it in the near future. We’ll see. He was my opponent three times. He was three times defeated by me.
Poirier made it clear his only focus right now is his upcoming fight against Michael Chandler in a featured bout at UFC 281 on Saturday night.
If all goes well and he’s victorious, the 33-year-old lightweight hopes that will put him back in the race to become champion again where his path became a little clearer after Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira to claim the 155-pound title.
Poirier, who fell to Oliveira in his most recent fight, praised Makhachev for a job well done even if that’s not the result he expected.
“I was surprised,” Poirier said about Makhachev’s win. “I didn’t have a dog in the fight but I thought Charles was going to get it done. But congrats to Islam, he’s the world champ.
“[Islam is a] a tough man on a streak. Looks like he’s putting everything together, doing everything right. What bad can I say about him?”
It seems unlikely that Poirier will get an opportunity to face Makhachev, even with Chandler’s win. However Oliveira not holding the belt makes it more likely that he gets that shot. That said, he knows better than most that there’s no such thing as a straight line to any title in the UFC, which is why he’s not spending much time trying to map out what comes next.
“Nothing’s ever clear in this sport, especially in the lightweight division,” Poirier said. “But [Islam Makhachev becoming champion] definitely opens up doors. New opportunities are available, and different fights seem to make more sense, as well as new competitors. We’ll see. None of that matters until Saturday night.
” I’m not certain [who’s next], what the next competitor is. It’s hard to know. It’s constantly changing. But first things first, I have to get my hand raised Saturday night.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/10/23449968/dustin-poirier-admits-it-sucks-never-got-fight-nate-diaz-downplays-fourth-fight-with-conor-mcgregor?rand=96749
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