Dustin Poirier’s UFC 257 victory over Conor McGregor marked one of his extraordinary in-octagon performances. Recently, ‘The Diamond’ also counted the same encounter as the one that catapulted him to the status of a UFC star. After more than three years of the coveted fight, Poirier took a trip down memory lane during his interview with ‘Yahoo Sports’ reporter, Ben Fowlkes, revealing how his second encounter with McGregor boosted his reputation in the community.
It’s pertinent to note that Poirier walked into the UFC 257 fight on a 0-1 record against McGregor. ‘The Notorious’ crushed ‘The Diamond’ in their first in-octagon showdown at UFC 178, defeating him via a first-round TKO. This is why fans couldn’t help hailing the 35-year-old after he turned the table and leveled the scores against the Irishman on 24 January 2021.
Poirier mentioned that he had a habit of delivering absolute barnburners whenever he stepped into the octagon. Yet, he couldn’t help admitting that his UFC 257 encounter was a special one indeed. ‘The Diamond’ said,
“Maybe knocking out Conor [at UFC 257] was a big deal in growing my star power.”
Apart from creating a UFC star out of Poirier, the second Poirier vs. McGregor encounter left the entire UFC community enthralled. However, their third scheduled fight left a lot to be desired as it was stopped prematurely due to McGregor’s devastating leg injury.
Still, with ‘The Notorious’ returning to the UFC soon, there is a small chance that we might get to witness him take on Dustin Poirier once again.
Will Dustin Poirier lock horns with Conor McGregor once more after the latter’s UFC return?
In an interview with an ‘MMA Fighting’ reporter, McGregor revealed he would have two fights left in his contract after his already-scheduled encounter against Michael Chandler. Hence, it’s quite evident that he has space for negotiating a fourth fight against Poirier.
Nevertheless, ‘The Diamond’ indicated that he might declare retirement after his upcoming encounter against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. While a retirement would spell the end of the Poirier-McGregor story, it should be noted that the Louisiana native will become the UFC lightweight champ if he can best Makhachev.
Consequently, McGregor also might desire another shot at the lightweight gold, especially after watching it under the control of his bitter rival. So, despite the unlikeliness, the chances of a fourth fight between these two cannot be ruled out at present.
