Dustin Poirier still has his heart set on a fight with Nate Diaz.
At UFC 269, Poirier lost his second bid for the undisputed lightweight title, getting submitted by Charles Oliveira in the third round. After the loss, he began calling for the UFC to rebook a fight with Diaz. The two men had at one point been set to face each other at UFC 230 back in 2018, but the bout fell apart.
Now, though, the timing seems to be right for both men, and they’ve called for the UFC to book the fight. Nothing has come to fruition yet, and Poirier is clearly getting a little frustrated.
“This reality show of an MMA community that we have, everybody is throwing s*** at me anytime I say what’s up, Nate,” Poirier said on The MMA Hour. “This fight has been offered to me twice already this year, and I’ve accepted both times. It’s not like I’m chasing this guy. Don’t call my phone and ask me to fight the guy — I don’t know, maybe he can’t get a deal done. On my side, I’ve accepted twice now, this year. 2022.
I’m not sure [why it hasn’t been made]. I’m not doing his deals. I don’t know what’s going on with him. I really wish I could tell you.”
Theories abound for why the UFC has yet to book a bout that both Diaz and Poirier want and the fans are obviously interested in. The biggest is that since Diaz is on the final fight of his current UFC contract, the promotion doesn’t want to book it unless he re-signs with the promotion.
Instead, the UFC has repeatedly attempted to book a fight between Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev. Diaz has seemingly been uninterested in that bout, and so a standoff has emerged. Poirier wishes the whole thing would just get resolved so they can finally lock horns.
“Let’s fight,” Poirier said. “He’s trying to get out of his contract, well, let’s get a damn deal done and fight at 170.”
“What I feel in my heart is the guy’s not going to re-sign. That’s what I feel. They’ve been going at this for awhile it seems, and I know he wants to fight . …
“I don’t know what’s going on right now with his current contract, with Chimaev, but I said yes to them twice this year and I’m saying yes right now to you and the world. I will fight you. Let’s go. I can make weight next week.”
Whether the UFC will finally give Diaz a fight he wants remains to be seen, but it’s clear at this point that their relationship with Diaz is not on good terms. And with Diaz willing to accept a lot of possible fights just to be out of the UFC, “The Diamond” is at risk of losing this fight forever, an outcome he hopes doesn’t happen.
“We’ll see what the UFC wants to do,” Poirier said. “Give me a list of names and let’s fight. Nate. Get Nate’s s*** together, let him fight it out, or do whatever you’ve got to do, Nate, on the business side, and let’s go. That’s a fun fight for me.
“Like I said, and I guess a lot of people have said the same s***, I’ve been watching the guy fight since I was living at my mom’s house. Fighting on Spike TV, I’ve been a fan of him and his brother for a long time. If he leaves the UFC and I never get to touch that chin, that sucks.”
