Dustin Poirier suggested after UFC 302 that he had likely competed for the last time, but the fan favourite acknowledged Wednesday his itch to fight again occasionally returns the further removed he gets from his fifth-round submission loss to Islam Makhachev.
“My wife wants me to stop, my daughter wants me to stop, but I know I can beat these guys. That’s the problem,” Poirier told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “They want me to be home. They want me to have a routine. My wife doesn’t want to see me take any more damage. … I’m on the fence (about fighting again). If something big comes up that’s exciting, that’s a big risk, that’s worth it, I would probably take it.”
What about a boxing match with Nate Diaz? Would that be the type of challenge to pique Poirier’s interest?
“I’d fight Nate,” said when asked about a possible venture inside the boxing ring against the former UFC superstar who has taken to a different combat sport of late.
Diaz is coming off a 10-round decision victory over former UFC opponent and a longtime American Top Team teammate of Poirier’s, Jorge Masvidal, this past weekend as the pair headlined a boxing event in California. Diaz also boxed Jake Paul in August of 2023, losing a unanimous decision.
“I thought it was close,” Poirier said of Diaz’s win over Poirier. “I thought Jorge landed the bigger shots. Nate’s volume did what it does and he won rounds. I think the judges gave him a lot of rounds because of (the volume).
“I think I’d whip him, though.”
Poirier is currently under contract with the UFC, but technically so is Masvidal and he was still permitted to box Diaz.
“I would love to. That would be fun and exciting,” Poirier said. “I’ve been doing MMA a while. I still love the training camps and love the fighting but to go to purely boxing the whole training camp would be a lot less wearing on my body. No wrestling, no jiu-jitsu. It would be boxing, running, swimming. That’s fun stuff.”
Poirier, 35, specifically mentioned he’d prefer a boxing match with Diaz, 39, over a mixed martial arts contest at this point in their careers.
“I don’t think the UFC’s gonna do business with him,” Poirier explained. “Last time I spoke to the UFC about Nate, it was another one that was close to happening then it fell apart again… and they told me they don’t want to do business with him anymore, so.”
Poirier clarified this was before Diaz fought Paul.
The pair of longtime lightweights, both of whom have notable rivalries with Conor McGregor, never fought in the UFC despite sharing many common opponents and fighting in the same era. They were slated to face each other at UFC 230 back in 2018 but it never came to fruition.
Poirier also explained he accepted a fight with Diaz on roughly 24 hours’ notice amidst the craziness ahead of UFC 279 nearly two years ago.
Diaz was initially slated to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 but Chimaev unprofessionally missed weight and the UFC gave that card a last-minute facelift. Diaz ended up beating Tony Ferguson that night in September 2022 and hasn’t competed in MMA since.
Poirier is 0-3 when competing for undisputed UFC titles and as for another run at UFC gold in the stacked 155-pound division, Piorier said: “I don’t know if I have that in me, but one training camp or two training camps, a big fight, I could probably do that. I just want to be excited.”