Dustin Poirier has revealed his preference in terms of his next outing.
Poirier is riding high after stopping Conor McGregor back-to-back. In their rematch back in January, Poirier avenged a 2014 loss to the “Notorious” one with a second-round TKO finish. “The Diamond” ended up winning the trilogy bout after McGregor suffered a broken tibia at the conclusion of the first round.
During an appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s The MMA Hour, Poirier said that while he likes the idea of a bout with Nate Diaz, you won’t see him begging for it.
“He’s a fighter I’ve been watching a long time. I think our styles match up well. I think it would be a great fight. But I’m not chasing it. There’s a possibility that it could happen, but on my things-to-do list, that’s not the next thing to do.
“We’ll see. That’s why I don’t commit to anything, because this is a crazy thing that we do, and it’s always changing. I’ll see when they call me. I wish I could give you a straight, clear-cut, honest answer, but I’m giving what I got, and that’s it.”
Poirier and Diaz have gone back-and-forth recently over their planned 2018 bout being canceled. Diaz even insinuated that Poirier recently turned down a fight with him. “The Diamond” denied this and hinted that someone in the UFC brass is lying to the Stockton native.
Ultimately, Poirier prefers a UFC Lightweight Title bout with champion Charles Oliveira.
“I think I’m the clear-cut No. 1 guy who should be fighting for the belt. I think after the fight, they even said that was the next thing that was going to happen. But we’ll see. I’ve heard people say they think it’s going to happen in December, but that’s just me looking at MMA headlines, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have a feeling we’re going to find out soon.”
The good news for Poirier is that UFC President Dana White has said he feels Oliveira vs. Poirier is the route to go next. With that said, Poirier also made it a point to let Ariel Helwani know that he still has some negotiating to do with the UFC before anything comes to fruition.
Oliveira captured the UFC 155-pound gold back in May. He scored a second-round TKO finish over Michael Chandler to lay claim to the gold.
Would you rather see Dustin Poirier fight Charles Oliveira or Nate Diaz next?
