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No Nate Diaz? No problem. Dustin Poirier was hoping the Stockton slugger would sign on the dotted line again to thrown down inside the Octagon after their initial bout fell through back in 2018. But to hear “The Diamond” tell it, he’s been informed by matchmakers that Diaz isn’t planning on fighting anytime soon.
Enter Al Iaquinta.
The scrappy Lightweight contender appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to lay down the gauntlet after he heard Poirier say he needed a dance partner.
“He doesn’t have a fight coming up, that’s the fight. The UFC just has to call him. I am pretty sure…I called Hunter, I text Sean Shelby, and said that’s the fight. I am pretty sure, I don’t know, maybe they didn’t offer it to him,” he added.
“But if they did, he turned it down. So either way, the offer is extended now. And that’s it, I think it’s a good fight.”
Poirier (ranked No. 2) hasn’t competed since losing to current UFC 155-pound kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, at UFC 242 last September via submission (see it again here). Prior to that, “The Diamond” had won four straight against a murder’s row of high-caliber foes, including capturing the interim Lightweight title by defeating Max Holloway at UFC 236.
Despite that great run, Iaquinta says Poirier should stop drinking his own Kool-Aid and believing that his stock is higher than what it really is.
“He’s got nothing coming up and he thinks his stock is a lot higher than it really is. He got choked out, would’ve been unconscious but he tapped before the deed could be done. Whatever, I think that’s the fight that needs to be made.”
Iaquinta, meanwhile, is coming off two straigth defeats to Donald Cerrone and Dan Hooker, with his last win coming over Kevin Lee in December of 2018. Ranked No. 9 in the world, “Ragin’ Al” has proven to be a tough out for anyone standing across from him.
Now, we just have wait and see if Poirier thinks a fight against Iaquinta is big enough.