Dustin Poirier will have his hands full with Michael Chandler tomorrow night (Sat., Nov. 12, 2022) at UFC 281 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, but “Diamond” is still thinking about a missed opportunity to fight Nate Diaz inside of the Octagon.
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CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE-DIP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to “The Fight Mecca,” Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., on Sat., Nov. 12, 2022, featuring two highly-anticipated championship showdowns. In UFC 281’s pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, will look to settle the score with former kickboxing foe and No. 5-seeded contender, Alex Pereira. In the ESPN+-streamed PPV co-main event, women’s Strawweight champion, Carla Esparza, intends to defend her newly-won title for the first time against former champion and No. 2-ranked contender, Zhang Weili.
Poirier, who is competing for the first time since getting submitted by Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 back in Dec. 2021, is hoping to regain momentum at 155 pounds with a big win over Chandler. The long-time veteran remains one of the biggest draws in the division so a win over someone like Chandler could line “Diamond” up for a massive fight his next time out. Maybe even another lightweight title shot.
Earlier this week, Poirier was discussing his upcoming clash with Chandler when Diaz’s name was brought back up. Poirier, who was previously scheduled to fight Diaz at UFC 230 back in 2018, nearly stepped up on short notice at UFC 279 to fight Diaz in the main event. Neither meeting ever happened, which has left Poirier wanting more.
“I’ve always wanted to fight Nate,” Poirier said during UFC 281’s media day. “We tried to make it happen a few times. It always fell apart. It sucks that he’s gone now, and I won’t get that chance to fight him. But it is what it is, the sport moves on.”
Another familiar name that Poirier was asked about was none other than Conor McGregor. Poirier has fought “Notorious” three times in total including back-to-back TKO wins over the Irishman in 2021. While McGregor would love the chance to avenge his previous losses to Poirier whenever he makes his official return to the Octagon “Diamond” is not really interested at this time.
“I’m not sure,” said Poirier about a fourth McGregor fight. “You never know in this sport. I don’t know if he’s coming back, what weight class, I’m not sure. Never say never but it’s not looking like it in the near future. We’ll see. I fought him three times. I’m trying to get to the title.”
For now, Poirier will be asked to go toe-to-toe with Chandler on one of the biggest fight cards of the year. Their lightweight clash is expected to blow the roof off of MSG this Saturday night and Poirier has a really good chance at walking away with another win over another top five opponent.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 281 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+/ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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