Dustin Poirier talks about his plans regardless of UFC 269’s outcome and his ‘forever’ rivalry with Conor McGregor.
Dustin Poirier may only be 32 years old, but he’s on the older side in terms of fighting age. He began fighting at 18 and had been competing professionally since 2009. And except for 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019, he’s fought three times or more inside a calendar year.
Retirement talks have surrounded “The Diamond,” given his accomplishments in the sport. But in a recent sitdown with Michael Bisping for BT Sport, the former interim champion gave a clearer statement on his potential career path after his UFC 269 title fight against Charles Oliveira.
“I see a lot of fighters try to get every last drop out of their careers and leave a lot of themselves out there. I don’t want to do that. I’ve been fighting a long time. I had my first fight at 18 years old,” he said.
“I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I think I might fight less frequent. I just love fighting, it’s who I am. Win, lose or draw Saturday night, I’m not gonna be fighting three times a year, moving forward.”
Poirier has been involved in notable wars and a heated rivalry with UFC superstar Conor McGregor. He holds two victories over “The Notorious” out of three fights, which theoretically means that the score had been settled.
But according to Poirier, that feud will never be put to bed.
“We can fight five more times, I don’t think it’s ever gonna be settled. It’s just one of those rivalries that’s gonna be forever.”
UFC 269 takes place this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Co-headlining the event is the return of the lone reigning double-champ Amanda Nunes, who defends her bantamweight title for the sixth time against Julianna Peña.