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How much is Dustin Poirier worth?
The UFC lightweight veteran has a staggering 11 post-fight bonuses. Seven for “Fight of the Night,” three for “Performance of the Night,” and one for “Submission of the Night.” He’s also fought one current and five former UFC champions, beating four of them.
I don’t know how you put a price on that kind of resume but when you also consider how “The Diamond” carries himself outside the cage with his charitable foundation, coupled with the fact that he’s never failed a drug test or got into trouble with the law, I’d say he’s earned whatever the hell he wants.
Tony Ferguson agrees … UFC President Dana White does not.
“I’m not going to sit up here and say anything negative about Dustin, he’s a great kid,” White told MMA Junkie. “I don’t know if it was he didn’t want to fight in Abu Dhabi or what his deal was – he didn’t want to fight. There’s a lot of different ways to turn down a fight. Negotiating yourself out of one is one of the ways you can do it. So for whatever reason, he didn’t want to take this fight. Only he knows that.”
Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) was in talks to fight former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at the upcoming UFC 254 event on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi, a co-headlining spot on the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje-led pay-per-view (PPV) card, but was unable to come to financial terms with the promotion.
“I WANT THE FIGHT,” Poirier said — in all caps — on Twitter.
Poirier isn’t the first person to be accused of pricing himself out of a fight and certainly won’t be the last. I just have a hard time believing a savage like “The Diamond,” who’s been chasing Ferguson for the last two years, is suddenly afraid to dance with “El Cucuy” or fly to Abu Dhabi, the same place he fought Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title.
I guess White is pinching pennies to pay for that new hotel in Las Vegas.