Former featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski has made an interesting offer to take on former interim lightweight titleholder, Dustin Poirier in the immediate aftermath of the latter’s loss at UFC 302 overnight – urging the Lafayette native to consider against a likely retirement.
Headlining last night’s return to New Jersey, former interim champion, Poirier suffered an eventual fifth round submission loss to undisputed gold holder, Islam Makhachev, succumbing to a D’Arce choke defeat to the pound-for-pound number one.
Turning in a commendable performance against the undisputed gold holder, Poirier sliced open Makhachev in the fourth round with a nasty elbow during one of many scrambles – with judge, Chris Lee even leaving his scorecard up for grabs in the final round, with the bout even on his card.
However, taken down with a unique trip from Makhachev during a fifth round exchange, Poirier saw his neck immediately latched onto by the Russian, who sunk in a D’Arce choke – eventually forcing a tap before Poirier went unconscious.
And with speculation rife regarding a potential retirement from active competition following UFC 302, Poirier confirmed to color-commentator, Joe Rogan that his bout with Makhachev was likely the final of his storied mixed martial arts career, while thanking his family.
Dustin Poirier offered clash by Alexander Volkanovski
Urging to continue fighting nonetheless following his impressive performance against Makhachev, Poirier may have already been offered a lifeline back to a fourth undisputed title charge, by the above-mentioned, Volkanovski – who himself is eyeing a trilogy bout with Makhachev.
“I know he wants good fun fights,” Alexander Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of respect for each other, and I think that would be a massive fight, so that’s somethin that I’d be willing to do while I’m waiting for that featherweight title, maybe a lightweight fight against someone like Dustin Poirier will be great.”
“You heard it here first, maybe we can make something happen,” Volkanovski explained. “Dustin, you’re a legend – keep your head up, it was a great performance still, and maybe we could have a little fun in there, have a little dance – let me know what you think.”
Who would win in a potential bout: Dustin Poirier or Alexander Volkanovski?