Dustin Poirier is leaving the door open for a fight against Nate Diaz at 170 pounds.
Dustin Poirier has not forgotten the date of November 3, 2018. This was supposed to be the day that Poirier fought Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden. That honor would instead go to Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis, with Poirier not even being in the event at all.
There are conflicting stories on what exactly caused the fight between Diaz and Poirier to fall through, but talks of the two fighting have picked up steam again following Poirier’s TKO victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 257.
Dustin Poirier Open To Welterweight Fight Against Nate Diaz
Following Dustin Poirier’s victory over McGregor, Nate Diaz immediately called for the two to have a fight that is now over two years in the making. Diaz placed Poirier’s name at the top of his very short list of potential opponents but with the caveat that the fight would need to take place at 170, not 155.
Poirier responded by stating that a fight closer to his natural weight would be more ideal. With Poirier expected to have a trilogy fight against Conor McGregor soon and still maintaining the goal of becoming UFC lightweight champion, it seemed that the idea of a welterweight bout between Poirier and Diaz was dead on arrival. But in a recent appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Poirier revealed that isn’t necessarily the case and that he is indeed open to fighting Diaz at welterweight.
“I think before I’m done fighting, I’m going to fight 170,” Poirier said when appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “I’ll go up to 170 and fight Nate. For sure. I do (think that fight is interesting),” Poirier told Rogan. “(I want to fight him) because of the way it fell apart,” Poirier said.
Poirier Explains Why UFC 230 Fight Against Diaz Fell Apart
Dustin Poirier would then recap his side of the story on why a fight between himself and Diaz did not occur at UFCC 230 as originally planned.
“Me and him were supposed to fight in Madison Square Garden, and I kind of was the fall guy. He gets to point and say I pulled out of the fight, and I did. I went to get stem cells done on my hip, but I was going to go through with the fight. I was going to go through a camp and fight him, and then they started offering me other replacement opponents.
“Nate was playing games with the UFC, the UFC started offering me opponents, and I said, ‘Look, guys, if this is happening, I’m just going to go get my hip taken care of.”
Who do you think would win a fight between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz at welterweight?