Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier still cannot seem to escape each other’s orbit.
The longtime rivals reignited their war of words after Nate Diaz suffered a brutal stoppage loss to Mike Perry at MVP MMA 1 last weekend.
Diaz returned to MMA for the first time since leaving the UFC, but things quickly went south against Perry. The BKFC star battered Diaz for two rounds, opening severe cuts before Diaz’s corner stopped the fight ahead of Round 3.
Despite the defeat, Nate Diaz still found time to mention Poirier during his post-fight media scrum, claiming he had no interest in fighting retired fighters — a direct jab at Poirier, who stepped away from MMA last year.
Poirier did not stay quiet for long.
“We’ve been circling each other for years and years and years,” Poirier said on his “Deep Waters” podcast.
“We could have fought. He knows that. I wish he would be honest with the fans and say he pulled out, or didn’t come to terms with the UFC, whatever it was, for the couple times we were supposed to fight and it never happened.”
Poirier then unloaded on Nate Diaz’s performance against Perry, criticizing nearly every aspect of his showing.
“But dude, after the way he looked on Saturday night, he can’t talk right now,” Poirier said.“He needs to take a break. He needs to go get some sleep and rest. 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, looked off-balance, his timing was horrible.”
“When somebody loses, I don’t like to sh*t on them too hard, but he knows. He looked horrible.”
The bad blood between Nate Diaz and Poirier stretches back years after their planned UFC 230 showdown collapsed in 2018. Poirier withdrew due to injury, while Diaz later accused him of avoiding the fight altogether.
Now, even in retirement, Poirier insists he would gladly come back for the Diaz matchup if the opportunity presented itself.
“My invitation is still out there,” Poirier said.“At 170, I’ll go back in the drug testing protocol, whatever. I will knock Nate Diaz completely out.”
“It’s crazy that he’s bringing me up in a post-fight. Apparently, he still wants the fight or is thinking about it. But after a performance like that, it feels like I’m picking on somebody. Like I’m chasing an easy fight, an easy win. But Nate Diaz, I will knock you clean out if we fight.”
Poirier retired following his loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318 in 2025, but he has repeatedly teased unfinished business with Diaz.
As for Nate Diaz, the Stockton veteran made it clear after the Perry loss that retirement is nowhere near his plans. Diaz said he wants to return as soon as possible and even pushed for an immediate rematch with Perry.
Still, Poirier believes time may finally be catching up with Diaz after years of wars inside the cage.
“Listen, bro, even though I talk about Nate and I want to beat his ass, I’m a fan,” Poirier said.“I’ve been a fan of him and his brother for a long time. But that was the worst I’ve ever seen him.”
“He’s 41 years old and has a million miles on him. You can’t fight the way he fights forever. It’s coming to the end.”
