Dustin Poirier is eager to fight this July 30 as he called out Colby Covington for UFC 277.
Over the last few months, we got to witness one of the most heated rivalries in combat sports history spill over to the real world. Jorge Masvidal took to the streets to allegedly get his revenge over Colby Covington. The former best friends-turned-enemies had been throwing verbal jabs at each other before they clashed at UFC 272.
A man who was on the sides for their bitter feud is slowly coming right to the center of the action. That man is none other than Covington’s former teammate at American Top Team, Dustin Poirier.
Dustin Poirier calls out two divisions
Having been on the sidelines since his last outing in December 2021, Dustin Poirier is ready to return to action. ‘Diamond’ announced his plans to move up to 170-lbs after his defeat to Charles Oliveira at UFC 269.
Poirier experienced a huge rise in his stock after beating Conor McGregor twice last year. He made his intentions of wanting big money fights clear as he chose to compete with McGregor over a title shot.
The 33-year-old expressed interest in fighting Nate Diaz, another big star in the game who seemed to be willing. However, talks died down quickly after UFC said that they had no interest in the matchup.
Taking to Twitter, Dustin Poirier posted a series of messages calling out the competitors at lightweight and welterweight.
170Lbs July 30th ⭐️
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 14, 2022
“170Lbs July 30th ⭐️”
Yall a bunch of 🐈 155 or 170 anyone pull up July 30th. International call out. Get a deal done 😤😤😤😤
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 14, 2022
“Yall a bunch of 🐈 155 or 170 anyone pull up July 30th. International call out. Get a deal done 😤😤😤😤”
All smoke anyone July 30th
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 14, 2022
“All smoke anyone July 30th”
Stephen Thompson chimed in with a signature ‘Nicest Motherf**ker’ response.
Hey @DustinPoirier
I’m down to scrap! July 30th let’s go! #respectfully
Respect
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 14, 2022
Covington-Poirier’s history
The heat between Poirier and Covington started to build after ‘Chaos’ trash-talked Masvidal and other ATT members. At a press conference for UFC 271, Poirier declared that he would never fight Colby Covington in the UFC and that it was “on sight”.
After a dominant win over Masvidal at UFC 272, Covington took the chance to respond to Poirier’s comments.
After a shining performance, @ColbyCovMMA wants the Diamond next 💎👀 #UFC272 pic.twitter.com/UeNfRTbWou
— UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2022
While he was against the idea at first, it seems like Poirier has had a change of heart as of late.
Poirier targets Covington
Following up on his original messages, a fan responded to Poirier suggesting he fight Covington.
“Fight colby”
“Pull up”
Pull up https://t.co/xLfOHSvUkY
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 14, 2022
Poirier doubled down on his intentions to fight Covington with the last tweet of the series.
“.@ColbyCovMMA July 30th i accept”
.@ColbyCovMMA July 30th i accept
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 14, 2022
It’s unclear what’s next for the two as Covington remains under the radar after being allegedly assaulted by Masvidal. Poirier will likely want an easier competition at 170-lbs as Covington would arguably be the hardest matchup for him at welterweight, barring the champ Kamaru Usman.