Former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier recently lost his last bout to Islam Makhachev. The bout was a lightweight championship fight, but unfortunately, Poirier lost in the fifth round. After his defeat, ‘The Diamond’ hinted at it being his last fight. However, the fighter made a turnaround and said he may still return the octagon. In a recent sit down with Jon Anik and Kenny Florian on the Anik & Florian podcast, Poirier spoke about his change of heart.
“Because if it’s not about the world title, why am I fighting? And after the Islam fight, when I got back home, I thought, “Maybe this is it?. ” A few weeks went by, injuries started hurting less and less post-fight, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to do this again.’ I’ve never lost two in a row. I can’t leave this sport on a loss.
“But at the same time, I want to be 100 percent in it if I’m going to do it again because I don’t want to disrespect the sport. I honor this stuff. I do, I just want to do it right, get my hand raised, and leave on my terms with a win. But that’s no guarantee. I could go back out there, and somebody could whip my ass. That’s the thing.”
Poirier has recently made his intentions of fighting Nate Diaz known. ‘The Diamond’ was scheduled to fight Diaz in 2018, but the match never happened. Diaz may return to the UFC and hopes the matchup will come to fruition, but Poirier is doubtful.
“The thing with Diaz is — I’m in contact with all UFC behind the scenes about my next moves all the time,” Poirier said. “We talk when I want to fight again, how bad are my injuries, things like that. And the last time I brought his name up, they didn’t want to talk about him. They didn’t want to do business. A lot of fans don’t know; behind the scenes, he’s such a struggle to deal with that I think they just don’t want to do it anymore.
“But if it came around, if that was something that was a reality. I 100 percent would take the fight right now, sign a contract today. And Nate knows that because I’ve done it a few times.”
The fighter has always aimed for undisputed UFC goals, but his mindset has changed, and he is no longer chasing titles.
“The shift [in mindset] needs to be internally about what the motivation for fighting is because if it’s not about the work title. Why am I fighting? And after the Islam fight, after I got back home I thought maybe this is it. A few weeks went by, injuries started hurting less and less post-fight. And I was like, I’ve gotta do this again. I’ve never lost two in a row. I can’t leave this sport on a loss, but at the same time, it’s like, I want to be 100% in it if I’m gonna do it again. Because I don’t want to disrespect this sport.
“ I just want to get my hand raised and leave this sport on a win.”
Rounding up the interview, Anik asked, “ Do you believe your next opponent will come out of this batch of names. Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira and Colby Covington?”
Poirier responded, “100%, yeah, if I fight again, and when I fight again, it’ll definitely be one of those guys you just said.”
