Dustin Poirer is frustrated, and he wants to fight this summer. At this point, he will fight whoever makes sense, although there is one fight that he really wants. Nate Diaz.
Poirier vs. Diaz
On Monday, Poirier made an appearance on The MMA Hour and said that he has accepted to fight Diaz twice in 2022 already.
“It’s a reality show of an MMA community that we have. Everybody’s throwing shit at me anytime I say ‘What’s up Nate?’ Bro this fight has been offered to me twice already this year and I’ve accepted both times,” Poirier said. “It’s not like I’m chasing this guy. Don’t call my phone and ask me to fight the guy, if- I don’t know. Maybe he can’t get a deal done on my side. I’ve accepted twice now this year to 2022.”
“I know as much as everyone else knows. I know that he has one fight left and they offered him Khamzat Chimaev. I don’t know but I know as much as the everybody else in the MMA knows but I know for sure that I was offered him twice. I said yes, both times, and one of those was a couple of weeks after I just lost the title fight the Charles. Like maybe the week after, they called me.”
Poirier and Diaz have been linked to scrap since 2018. They were scheduled to co-headline UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden; however, a few weeks before, the fight was scrapped.
Poirier hopes to get on the UFC 277 card in Dallas, TX. Last week he sent out a tweet he would fight anyone.
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
Why UFC 277?
Poirier explained why July 30 in Dallas makes the most sense.
“If I have eight weeks for a camp I can make 155. But these guys are offering me fights at the end of the year. I want to fight now. So I’d say if I fight at 170, that doubles the chances of me getting a fight right now. I want to fight this summer. I have a daughter who’s out of school. I can do a training camp by July 30. Dallas is close to Louisiana, and not too far from Florida. It just makes sense to me. Or my timeline,” Poirier said. “I don’t want to wait to the end of the year and fight at 155. I will fight in July at 155. But if they can’t find somebody, then I’ll fight at 170. So that’s another reason why Nate makes sense. Let’s fight. He’s trying to get out of his contract. Well, get a damn deal done, and let’s fight at 170. I’ll go up, come right back down.”
Colby Covington
Another name that has been floating around is Colby Covington. Poirier has said on record that he does not want to fight him because he doesn’t want Covington to profit off of him. Well, ‘The Diamond’ has changed his mind a little bit. Poirier revealed that the UFC sent him an offer to fight Covington, but he didn’t accept…yet.
“Look, I don’t hate anyone, but if there was a line right before hate, Colby is standing there. I really dislike the guy and I’ve been saying that I don’t want him to make $1 for fighting me. But if they offered me him last week,” Poirier said. “It was either wait to the end of the year and fight for a number one contender at lightweight, or fight July against him, and that was the name that they gave me so I’m like fu*k it. That’s not a call out of him. I’m not going out of my way. I don’t want to fight the guy. I don’t want him profiting anything off of me. But if they’re not going to give me a fight until the end of the year, and this is what you’re given me I gotta fight. I’ve got to do it. I got to do….I’m healthy and I want to fight.”
Poirier did not accept the fight against Covington, but he told the UFC matchmakers that he would get back to them. ‘The Diamonds’ first option is Diaz; in fact, he says if they never fight, he will be bummed. After Diaz, it is whoever makes the most sense. But he wants to fight this summer.
