Dustin Poirier has one eye on the welterweight division ahead of his career-defining lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira which will take place on December 11 at UFC 269.
‘The Diamond’ has been forced to dismiss retirement talk in recent weeks and during a recent interview with MMA Junkie, he again faced questions about his fighting future.
“No, I’m not retiring. I’m 32, man. I feel good,” Poirier said. “You see the way I’m moving out here today. I feel good. I’m having fun. If anything, I’ll go up. I’ll probably go to 170; if anything. But no, honestly, my goal isn’t to try to have the most successful title defenses.
“I don’t know. We’ll see. One day at a time. I can’t look; none of that is even a reality until December 11th happens, and I get my hand raised. I have to do that first before we can even go into these conversations because I don’t know what’s next. I live my life one day at a time, man; a quarter-mile at a time.” (Transcribed by Sportskeeda)
Dustin Poirier Has A Tough Task Ahead Of Him At UFC 269
As Poirier mentioned he has a big task ahead of him before he can think about whatever might be next. The former interim lightweight champion has never been crowned the undisputed champion of any UFC division. Poirier fell short on his only other bid to do so when he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov inside three rounds back in 2019.
Right now, he appears to be in the form of his career after picking up three consecutive wins in the 155lb division. Poirier will in all likelihood be considered the favourite with the oddsmakers for the UFC 269 main event.
The Lafyette, Louisiana native is smart not to overlook the champion, Oliveira, who has been in a fine run of form. ‘Do Bronx’ is currently riding a nine-fight win streak that includes victories over the likes of Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson. The Brazilian is unbeaten since 2017 and it will take one hell of a performance from Poirier to dethrone him on December 11.
Do you think Dustin Poirier would be successful at welterweight?