Charles Oliveira gets why Dustin Poirier would pursue a fight with Nate Diaz over a fight with him for the undisputed lightweight title.
‘Do Bronx’ became the 155lb champion at UFC 262 when he wiped out Michael Chandler inside two rounds.
Poirier appeared to have cemented himself as Oliveira’s first title defence when he picked up a second successive win over Conor McGregor at UFC 264 in July.
Since then, Poirier has been angling for a fight with Nate Diaz, who despite being uber-popular, doesn’t compete at lightweight and isn’t even ranked in the division he does fight in.
During a recent interview with AG Fight, Oliveira claimed to understand Poirier’s motivation for chasing a lucrative fight with Diaz over a title shot.
“Today nobody wants to know about a belt, they don’t want to know about a belt,” Oliveira said. “They want to know about ‘money’, about money in your pocket. The fight against Conor (McGregor) made a lot of money for Dustin Poirier, a fight against Nate (Diaz) will make a lot of money too. We are human beings. It depends a lot on each person. I would rather fight for the belt than for the money. I had a focus. I wanted to be UFC champion. Today I am UFC champion, I want to make money, I want to have money in my pocket.
“So it depends a lot. If Dustin agrees to fight Diaz, is he wrong? No, it’s not wrong. He is right,” Oliveira added. “You have to see what’s good for him. Everyone has to choose what is right for them. They considered my fight against Diaz and I said that if it was for the belt, I would fight. Before I fight for the belt. I had a focus, which was to fight for the belt. A lot of people said to me: ‘This fight will make you a lot of money’. And I said: ‘Okay, but money is not the focus now, I want to be UFC champion’. Today I am UFC champion, now I want to earn money. Everyone has a way to choose. Today I am the champion. I’m not worried about who will be or who will not be, who has to chase who will fight for the title, it’s them, it’s not me.”
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