(R-L) Dustin Poirier punches Conor McGregor of Ireland in a lightweight fight during the UFC 257 event inside Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Island on January 23, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dustin Poirier might be riding high on his win over Conor McGregor but he praised Charles Oliveira too
Dustin Poirier is in no rush to get into the UFC title scene despite a huge win over Conor McGregor.
The Diamond exorcised some of his demons from UFC 178 with an exemplary performance against McGregor.
While Poirier has been calling himself as the uncrowned champion, he still has to get the Lightweight belt from Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib, who retired after defeating Justin Gaethje, is yet to be stripped of the title. However, Dana White wants to see Poirier take on another star from UFC 257, Michael Chandler.
Chandler won his debut fight after knocking out Dan Hooker, but Poirier doesn’t want to do the bout. The Diamond flat out said that Chandler hadn’t done enough to get the title, but he wanted Charles Oliveira to go ahead and take it.
Poirier was speaking to MMA Junkie and was open to Chandler vs Oliveira for the title while he took a back-seat:
“I want to be the world champion, and Charles is a guy that’s paid his dues.
“He’s earned where he’s at, no doubt about it. Let him and Chandler fight for the belt. If they want Chandler in there for the title, and he’s calling for the title. Let them fight for the belt. I’ll take a step back and just watch.”
McGregor certainly wasn’t done with Poirier and wanted a third crack at Poirier and the Diamond wasn’t quite sure if it would happen:
Poirier also opened up that no one, the UFC or McGregor, had contacted him about his next fight:
“I don’t know what they’re saying behind closed doors. And I haven’t been reached out yet by the UFC or by Conor’s management about the trilogy fight. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I haven’t been reached out to the UFC about anything.”
Poirier certainly is in the race for the title and it will be interesting to see who his next opponent is. His decision to bless Oliveira vs Chandler could be pressure tactics to get the UFC working again.
Poirier, for his part, seems calm after the win. He is the former UFC interim Lightweight champion and could certainly be the new champion.
Oliveira, for his part, has come up trumps and beat Tony Ferguson in his last outing. Poirier vs Oliveira would be great too and it will be interesting to see what the UFC does next.
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