Dustin Poirier is ranked No. 1 at 155 pounds and the clearcut favorite to challenge Charles Oliveira for the lightweight strap. While a championship showdown would make sense for December, particularly with “Do Bronx” on the sidelines since mid-May, Poirier has yet to hear from matchmakers at UFC.
Which is why “The Diamond” is keeping his options open.
“I’m not committing to anything,” Poirier told The MMA Hour. “I haven’t even spoken to the UFC about the title fight timeline. I haven’t spoken to anyone about setting up another fight. I haven’t even been reached out by the company. Anything is possible but we’ll just go with what makes the most sense. I’m not surprised that I haven’t been contacted but I’m sure it’s coming.”
Poirier has already competed twice this year. After stopping Conor McGregor in their UFC 257 rematch back in January, “The Diamond” returned at UFC 264 in July and secured his second-straight victory over “Notorious,” a lightweight headliner that resulted in a broken leg for the trash-talking Irishman.
Which somehow led to rumors of a Nate Diaz fight.
“Wolf tickets,” Poirier continued. “You know how these negotiations go, unless they’re talking to him … nothing has been offered to me at all, I haven’t spoken to the UFC. I can’t say the same for Nate but I think they will call me soon. He’s a fighter I’ve been watching a long time, I think our styles match up well, it would be a great fight but like I said, I’m not chasing him. There’s a possibility it could happen, but on my ‘things to do’ list, that’s not the next thing to do.”
Poirier was expected to throw hands with Diaz as part of the UFC 230 pay-per-view (PPV) card back in late 2018; however, negotiations broke down as the fight got closer with both sides pointing fingers at the other. It seems Diaz is interested in resurrecting that grudge match and “The Diamond” doesn’t appear to be ruling it out.
“I’m not trying to set up a round robin between me, Conor, and Nate, running it back over and over again, they would all be great fights,” Poirier said. “He said something fight week when I beat Conor and he replied and it turned into what it is now. Me and [Diaz] were supposed to fight, he won’t tell the true story of how the fight fell apart. I’m the fall guy, I get some injections in my hip and it looks like I pull out of the fight but the fight was already off the table at that point. I dunno, I just feel like we gotta fight at some point. We’ll see.”
The clock is ticking.