Coach Mike Brown wants to see Dustin Poirier fight for the title next.
Dustin Poirier knows Nate Diaz is the money fight, but coach Mike Brown thinks UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira should be ‘The Diamond’s’ first pick.
Brown knows Poirier-Diaz would do ‘giant numbers’ and make for one hell of a fight but claims Poirier’s top priority is becoming the undisputed lightweight champion.
“I’m assuming the title will probably be next, who knows,” Brown told My MMA News in a recent interview (h/t BJPenn.com). “I see there’s some talks maybe potentially [about] a Nate Diaz fight. I’m sure that would do giant numbers. They were scheduled to fight before, it kind of fell through. But that would be monster. Something everybody would want to see. Maybe they could do it at welterweight, nobody’s got to cut weight, kind of a fun fight for the fans. But I think probably first, business is winning the undisputed lightweight title.”
While Brown would prefer to see Poirier fight Oliveira next the American Top Team (ATT) head coach knows that, whoever he fights, the fans are in for another vintage Dustin Poirier performance.
Expect violence — lots of violence — no matter who the opponent, says Brown.
“Like every Poirier fight, it’s gonna be super exciting, a lot of violence, a lot of pressure, and probably a D.P. finish.”
A fourth fight with Conor McGregor could also be on the cards but, given the circumstances (McGregor suffered a broken leg and lost the last two fights via stoppage), Brown doesn’t expect a rematch anytime soon.
“Who knows, right? It’s all about entertainment, what people want to see,” he said. “Money talks. But I mean, he’s gonna be out for a while so I don’t anticipate it anytime soon and I think there’s some other things that Dustin wants to take care of first. I would never say never to anything but I don’t see it in the near future.”
Poirier is on a three-fight win streak and the only fighter to beat McGregor in back-to-back fights. The Louisianan is #1 in the UFC lightweight rankings and #6 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.