Last weekend at UFC 264, Dustin Poirier (28-6, 1 NC) picked up his second win over Conor McGregor (22-6) after McGregor broke his leg. With the win, Poirier has secured the next shot at Charles Oliveira (31-8, 1 NC) for the UFC lightweight title.
Through everything that’s happened since Khabib’s retirement, Dustin Poirier – Charles Oliveira have seemed destined to fight. These two are clearly the two best lightweights in the UFC and finally it appears their paths will cross.
However, there is one thing that could throw a wrench into all of this. That one thing is UFC superstar Nate Diaz (20-13). Make no mistake about it, Diaz is one of the biggest stars in the entire promotion.
Stockton’s own hunts for the big fights and he always wants to fight the best. He’s had his radar on Dustin Poirier for a long time now and that hasn’t changed. This week, Diaz took to Twitter to call out Poirier. Poirier responded say, “I’ll touch you up at any weight.”
185lbs
Pull-up pic.twitter.com/wDJxAo1YLL— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) July 16, 2021
Could Poirier bypass his UFC title shot?
If there’s anyone you should want to be in the UFC right now it’s Dustin Poirier. After Khabib retired, nobody denied the fact that Poirier is the top lightweight in the promotion. He got his huge money fight with Conor McGregor, then he was put in charge of his own destiny.
The UFC offered him the McGregor trilogy or a shot at Charles Oliveira. Poirier picked the McGregor trilogy and he made the right choice as he won the fight and the PPV did 1.8 million buys which is the second highest of all time.
Poirier earned himself a massive payday and now he still gets his UFC title shot. However, could Poirier chase another massive payday? There is unfinished business between Poirier and Diaz as they were supposed to fight a couple of years ago.
However, Poirier had to have surgery and the fight was called off. The UFC never made the fight again, but both men have continued to call the other out. It’s a dream fight for fight fans and it’s definitely something the promotion would be interested in booking.
If I had to guess, I think Poirier takes the title shot this time. He got the biggest fight possible with the McGregor trilogy and now it’s time for him to chase gold. However, if the Diaz fight does happen instead, I certainly wouldn’t be shocked.