Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
After falling apart the first attempt, the UFC is reportedly trying to set up another fight between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz for the summer.
We haven’t seen Dustin Poirier in the cage since his disappointing loss at the hands of light heavyweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov back in September of 2019. But the American Top Team fighter sounds ready to return to the cage, the only question is against who. Right now he’s waiting to hear back from one Nate Diaz, as he revealed on his Twitter leading into UFC 247 weekend.
Spoke with the @ufc last night you gonna take the fight @NateDiaz209 ? 170LBS May in California or July international fight week? Come get this work
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) February 8, 2020
”Spoke with the ufc last night you gonna take the fight Nate Diaz?” he wrote. “170LBS May in California or July international fight week? Come get this work.”
MMA Junkie caught up with Poirier on fight night and he confirmed being in a holding pattern regarding the fight for the next little while.
“I spoke to Sean (Shelby) last night,” Poirier revealed. “I know that they offered him this fight in California in May or International Fight Week, so we’ll see. We’ll see if he takes it, but the offer is out there. I think they told me they were going to give him two weeks. If they didn’t hear, they’re going to move on from it. We’ll see. I don’t know exactly what’s going on with the whole thing.”
Nate Diaz has been a hard fighter to book since his big money fights against Conor McGregor in 2016. A fight between Diaz and Poirier was set to go down as the co-headliner of UFC 230 in November of 2018 before it fell apart under mysterious circumstances. At the time it seemed like a Poirier injury might be behind it but “Diamond” has been making it clear lately that Diaz was the one behind the fight falling apart.
“let’s go Nate” for the love of God, book this fight. pic.twitter.com/e6i2CKgFph
— MMAssault (@MMAassault1) February 9, 2020
“Last time was a mess,” he said. “I don’t care what he says, he knows the truth. It was a mess. They were offering me Kevin Lee as a replacement, and it just fell apart. I don’t know. If he says ‘yes,’ I expect him to show up.”
Diaz showed up twice for fights in 2019, including one half of the BMF Belt fight at UFC 244 that ended up being one of the biggest cards of the year for the UFC. Much internet ink has been spilled about him being a legit superstar, but questions still remain as to whether the UFC is actually willing to pay him superstar money, or if his reluctance to return to the cage is fueled by lowball offers from the promotion. We know what our money is on.