Dustin Poirier has all but ruled out a fourth fight with Conor McGregor of the UFC.
Perhaps there’s still a chance if the correct financial amount comes his way. Poirier discussed facing Colby Covington — which he claims would never happen in the UFC — McGregor, and Nate Diaz backstage at the Toyota Center during UFC 271 in Houston on Saturday.
“I’m probably not going to fight Conor again. I don’t really want to fight Conor again. For me, that door is closed,” said Poirier. “The only reason I’d do it is for money. I beat him two times in a row. Can I best my two performances? Can I knock him out quicker, can I 10-7 him? What can I do? I’ve done it, if I do it again, it’s just for money.”
Nate Diaz, on the other hand, is a unique case. For months, if not years, the two had been circling a battle. Earlier this year, there was a push to hold the bout at UFC 272 in March. Diaz’s contract issue – he has one fight left on his contract — looks to be the stumbling block, with sources telling Cageside Press that the promotion wants to extend Diaz’s contract before booking the bout.
“I think there’s a good chance it’s going to happen. I think summer’s probably a good target, if I would put one on the calendar,” Poirier said Saturday. “I’m not sure, but I have a good feeling it’s going to happen.”
If it happens, it will very certainly be at welterweight. “I’m not sure if I want to stay at 170 pounds, but this fight makes sense. I just want to be in fights that mean something to me,” Poirier explained. “Nate’s a guy I grew up watching fight, I respect him and his brother, I think stylistically it’s going to be fun for the fans. This is a Fight of the Year type of fight, and those are the kind of fights I want to be part of.”
Diaz recently chastised the UFC for failing to arrange what he called to as his “dream fight.” “retirement fight,” but Poirier for one isn’t buying that Nate is done with the fight game. “I don’t believe that. Nate, he’s got that dog in him. He’s going to fight forever.”
Dustin Poirier’s interview with Insidefighting:
“It’s just like, we’ll see. We’re not currently talking about it with the UFC, but I’m sure it’s never out of the question. He wants to fight me. No doubt about it, he wants to get those wins back. We’ll see what happens when they call, but they haven’t said a word about it yet. I’m not sure if they have a plan for him.”
Poirier is the only fighter to defeat McGregor twice via stoppage. After getting knocked out by the former champion in 2014, ‘The Diamond’ more than made up for the loss. Poirier came back to beat ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor in back-to-back fights at UFC 257 and UFC 264.
Following those two career-defining wins, Poirier was defeated by Charles Oliveira in a submission loss at UFC 269, falling short of claiming the lightweight title for the second bout in his career.
Poirier is presently ranked No. 2 in the UFC lightweight division and No. 8 in the pound-for-pound division. McGregor, on the other hand, is ranked #9 at 155 pounds but has been dropped totally from the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
