Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“…A fight with me makes a lot of sense to get the next title shot.”
Dustin Poirier recently tweeted that he had been ‘paid in full’ and is ready to ‘go out there and earn it in blood’, but ‘The Diamond’ didn’t reveal an opponent.
Poirier’s encouraging tweet comes weeks after stalled negotiations with the UFC and, although he didn’t reveal the specifics of his new contract, all signs seem to be pointing towards a rematch with Conor McGregor.
Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast earlier this week Poirier, who suffered a first-round TKO loss to McGregor at UFC 178, believes a rematch ‘makes a lot of sense’ right now — especially with both fighters itching to get back at Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I don’t really know, honestly, what’s going on with the whole situation,” Poirier said, per MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew. “Of course I would take the fight. I would fight him, I would fight Tony [Ferguson], I just want big fights and I think that’s what’s coming. I would like to fight again this year. We’ll see. I haven’t heard back from negotiation side of the UFC or Conor, but it’s a new week and I’m hoping to hear something.”
“Look at it from his side, for sure there’s some upside there,” Poirier said. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov] said if him or Tony beat me that he would give them a shot at the title, so if that holds any weight, he’s looking at that. I don’t know what his ambition is, I don’t know how hungry he is to be the UFC lightweight world champion. If it is, a fight with me makes a lot of sense to get the next title shot.
“He could push for a fight with Tony. That would be an exciting fight. I’m a fan of the sport and I think that would be a good fight to watch, but Tony is coming off of a loss. I just had the interim title, I’m number two, I’m coming off of a win, a Fight of the Year contender, I think it makes more sense. Every fight is a chance or a risk, no matter how prepared you are. If you’re gonna risk something, do it with the top guy and get a title shot.”
While this is just speculation at this point, Poirier and McGregor do seem mutually interested in the matchup and UFC president Dana White recently confirmed that he had offered both men a fight. McGregor has since claimed he’s accepted the matchup but that it must happen in 2020.
“(Conor) called out Poirier for a fight with (him) in Dublin for charity. So we offered them both a fight. We offered Dustin and Conor a fight, so we’re waiting to hear back from both of them.”
Perhaps we’ll see the deal formalised in the coming weeks.