Dustin Poirier believes Conor McGregor should seriously be considering a rematch with him if the Irishman has ambitions to become a UFC champion once again.
McGregor who previously beat Poirier inside one round at UFC 178 in 2014 offered to fight ‘The Diamond’ for charity last week. Both men agreed to the bout before UFC boss Dana White chimed in to try and make this thing official. He offered McGregor and Poirier contracts to do the bout under the UFC banner and ever since then things have gone a little quiet.
“I don’t really know, honestly, what’s going on with the whole situation,” Poirier said on UFC Unfiltered this week. “Of course I would take the fight. I would fight him, I would fight Tony (Ferguson), I just want big fights and I think that’s what’s coming. I would like to fight again this year. We’ll see. I haven’t heard back from negotiation side of the UFC or Conor, but it’s a new week and I’m hoping to hear something.”
Poirier believes he has a lot to offer McGregor as an opponent and thinks ‘Notorious’ will want to face him if he has a desire to become the lightweight champion once again.
“Look at it from his side, for sure there’s some upside there,” Poirier said. “Khabib said if him or Tony beat me that he would give them a shot at the title, so if that holds any weight, he’s looking at that. I don’t know what his ambition is, I don’t know how hungry he is to be the UFC lightweight world champion. If it is, a fight with me makes a lot of sense to get the next title shot.
‘The Diamond’ recognizes Tony Ferguson is the next best option for McGregor but insists he has more credentials than ‘El Cuccy’ who is coming off a lopsided loss against Justin Gaethje at UFC 249.
“He could push for a fight with Tony. That would be an exciting fight. I’m a fan of the sport and I think that would be a good fight to watch, but Tony is coming off of a loss. I just had the interim title, I’m number two, I’m coming off of a win, a Fight of the Year contender, I think it makes more sense. Every fight is a chance or a risk, no matter how prepared you are. If you’re gonna risk something, do it with the top guy and get a title shot,” Poirier said.
No matter what happens Poirier is determined to fight again in 2020 against McGregor, Ferguson or somebody else.
“I want to fight this year. I want to fight before the new year,” Poirier said emphatically. “I don’t know about (this) fight but somebody. I want to fight somebody. If something else falls through or doesn’t come together, I want to fight. I’ve been fighting since 2007 and I’ve never fought one time in a 12-month period. I’ve only got one fight in this year. I’m healthy, I’m training, I’m fit, I want to scrap. I’m ready right now. Tomorrow. Knock on the door, we can go right now.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
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