The wheels are in motion, and Dustin Poirier seems to agree that his next fight should be the rubber match against Conor McGregor. Dana White was been overly adamant that this is the fight to make, and Poirier himself confirmed as much on the Joe Rogan experience.
There is a caveat. Before anything else, the right deal has to be in place.
“We’re just trying to get the right deal structured” Poirier told Rogan (via MMA Junkie). “This is going to be a big fight. He knocked me out, (and) I knocked him out. The trilogy. For sure one of the biggest fights this year, but maybe of all time. … I don’t directly talk to them. They talk to my manager, Rob Roveta. We try to put ourselves in the best position to sit at the table with them and have a legit conversation about getting this fight booked. We’re trying to structure the right deal, and when that happens, the fight will be on. Until then, we’ll see.”
It’s an important caveat too, as Poirier has been caught in the “doesn’t want to fight” crosshairs before, which we know translates to “fighters trying to get paid.”
Since we’re on the topic of pay, the other asterisk is whether or not this fight will have an audience. According to the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, Fight Island is looking to welcome a limited number of spectators.
As for the fight itself, Poirier is taking nothing for granted. The first fight was a great finish by McGregor that didn’t educate us on much, while the second fight was a great exchange that only educated us slightly more.
“It’s fighting. I don’t think you ever really (have someone’s number). He’ll make adjustments. It’ll be a completely different fight, like the first one and the second was different. The third one is going to be different, as well, because I’m going to make adjustments, as well. I’ve got to switch it up and keeps things fresh and keep him guessing.”
As for title shot (or the title itself) implications, it’s hard to say. White hasn’t let go of trying to get Khabib Nurmagomedov back onto his throne. Throw in Charles Oliviera, Michael Chandler, and Poirier’s desire to fight Nate Diaz for some reason — it seems to be one big guessing game at this point.