Dustin Poirier is currently hotter than he’s ever been as a fighting commodity after defeating Conor McGregor twice in 2021. But at the same time, he also sounds closer to being done with fighting in general than he ever has.
After the first big win over McGregor, “The Diamond” made it clear that the time away from his family training was getting to him. He still came back for the big money trilogy fight against McGregor, and now he’s got a title shot coming up, but what happens after that?
In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Poirier once again hinted at the possibility that there isn’t much left for him to do after winning the undisputed UFC lightweight title.
“For me, being undisputed world champion was the goal from the beginning,” Poirier said. “If I can tick that box, I’ve done it all in the sport of mixed martial arts.”
And while he revealed that the UFC still hasn’t contacted him about setting up a title fight against current 155 pound champ Charles Oliveira, he’s already clearly in the mindset of beating “Do Bronx”
“Oliveira is a very dangerous guy,” Poirier said. “I think he’s improving more and more in his striking, putting guys down, he’s long especially for that weight class and I think he’s probably the best jiu-jitsu practitioner in the UFC roster right now.”
“He’s aggressive and very offensive with his jiu-jitsu. He doesn’t just use it to protect himself or get out of bad positions, he attacks people with it and finishes fights with it so he’s a very dangerous opponent who has paid his dues and fought a long time in the UFC.”
As for what happens after the fight with Oliveira … well, that really depends on how it goes. But when asked if he wanted to attempt to put together a long string of title defenses, Dustin once again seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea.
“We’ll see man,” he said. “I’ll probably just go and sell hot sauce.”
Considering how good Khabib’s reputation has looked after he walked away on a winning note, we can’t blame Poirier for maybe thinking a belt win would be a pretty solid cap to a great career.