Dustin Poirier still sounds willing to fight Nate Diaz, but Diaz’s bloody loss to Mike Perry at MVP MMA 1 made the matchup feel a lot less dangerous in Poirier’s eyes.
Poirier reacted after Perry battered Diaz for two rounds before Diaz’s corner stopped the fight. Diaz then pushed back on retirement talk and took a shot at Poirier for walking away, which brought their years-old grudge back into the conversation.
Poirier and Diaz were booked for UFC 230 in 2018, but the fight never happened. They have argued for years over why it fell apart, and Poirier has said Diaz is the one matchup that could pull him back after retirement.
Watch the Deep Waters clip below:
“We could’ve fought. He knows that. I wish he would be honest with the fans and say that he pulled out or didn’t come to terms with the UFC or whatever it was for the couple times we were supposed to fight that it never happened,” Poirier said on Deep Waters.
Poirier then went right at Diaz’s performance against Perry.
“But, dude, after the way he looked on Saturday night, he can’t talk right now man. You need to take a break. He needs to go get some sleep and some rest, not me. He looked like dog sh*t. He looked horrible. He looked like he didn’t want to be in there, looked like a punching bag. He looked off balance. His timing was horrible.”
Poirier said he normally does not like piling on after a fighter loses, but Diaz bringing his name up after that kind of defeat changed the tone.
“When somebody loses, I don’t like to sh*t on them too hard, but he knows. It’s crazy that he’s bringing me up in a post-fight. Apparently he still wants the fight or is thinking about it. It’s just like, after a performance like that, it’s like I’m picking on somebody now if I’m chasing Nate Diaz, the way he looked. It’s like I’m picking on an easy fight, easy win. But, Nate Diaz, I will knock you clean out if we fight.”
Poirier Says He Would Return At 170 For Diaz
Diaz is once again a free agent after the Perry fight, and Poirier said he would take the required steps if Diaz works toward a UFC deal.
“My invitation is still out there,” Poirier said. “At 170, I’ll go back in the drug test protocol or whatever. I will knock Nate Diaz completely out.”
Poirier is not asking Diaz to make lightweight, and he is not framing this as a title-path fight. He is talking about a 170-pound grudge match between two veterans who have been circling each other for years.
Poirier’s official UFC profile lists him at 30-10-0, with 16 knockouts, seven submissions, and 13 first-round finishes. He is a former interim UFC lightweight champion and has fought for undisputed lightweight gold three times.
Diaz is 21-14 after the Perry loss. UFC still lists the Stockton veteran with high-volume boxing, 13 submission wins, and a long history of turning ugly fights into chaos, but Perry did not give him much room for that kind of comeback. Perry, now 15-8 in MMA, pressured Diaz, bloodied him, and forced the corner stoppage after Round 2.
Diaz said afterward he wanted the Perry rematch “ASAP.” Poirier’s answer was sharper. He still wants the Diaz fight if the path opens, but after watching Perry maul him on Netflix, Poirier thinks Diaz needs rest before more callouts.
