Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev went to war at UFC 302 before the champ finally used a D’arce choke in the fifth to retain his title. Although this could potentially be Poirier’s last fight, he’s yet to confirm his retirement. In the meantime, a ton of fun matchups have emerged for “The Diamond.”
Alexander Volkanovski, who’s been in the Octagon with Makhachev twice, admitted that he would fight Poirier. Now, former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has jumped on the bandwagon as well.
Following his second loss to Leon Edwards, Usman has rarely talked about reclaiming welterweight gold. Instead, he’s fought Khamzat Chimaev at 185 pounds on short notice and seems comfortable taking on high-profile fights instead.
Kamaru Usman Aims To Push Dustin Poirier ‘To The Brink’ If They Fight
On the June 3 episode of Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, Usman and Henry Cejudo were talking about what’s next for Poirier following his loss to Makhachev at UFC 302.
Usman first agreed that a fight between Volkanovski and Poirier would be fun and went on to say that if ‘The Diamond’ decides to move up a weight class, he’ll be a great matchup too.
Usman then clarified that his call-out of Poirier isn’t mean-spirited but instead, rooted in an interest to fight someone he really respects.
“I always put my mind there. If I was to ever compete against a guy like Dustin Poirier, that would be a fantastic one, because it’s a guy that I could really respect through and through the process. Really through the process.
“And we go out. And it’s like you and your main training partner and you just like, yeah, we going to beat each other up. We going to push each other to the brink, you know? That would be a fun fight, but I’m not throwing my hat in.”
Cejudo didn’t oppose the idea either as he believes that Poirier has plenty of amazing options despite the loss at UFC 302. Even without a title in the picture, fans would no doubt love to see Poirier battle it out with the likes of Max Holloway, Nate Diaz, Usman, and Volkanovski.
For now, Poirier deserves all the rest and family time he wants and regardless of his decision to fight in the future, he’s already cemented his legacy as an all-time great.
