Beneil Dariush shared that Dustin Poirier turned down offers to face him twice. The Iranian-American fighter, nonetheless, openly accepted that “The Diamond” simply has specific preferences for his opponents, stressing he has no problem with this.
Dariush, who will face Arman Tsarukyan at the UFC on ESPN 52 event this weekend, shared the news during a pre-fight news conference on Wednesday. According to the fighter, he was told about Poirier’s decision to turn down offers to fight him. With this, Dariush has concluded that he doesn’t provide the excitement Poirier is looking for in his opponents.
“I’ve seen interviews with Dustin, and he’s not really interested in fighting me,” Dariush shared. “I don’t get him excited, I guess, the way he puts it. My understanding is when Jon Jones got hurt, they were hoping to boost (UFC 295) up with Dustin Poirier and myself, and they called him and he wasn’t interested.
“I believe they even tried for this date. This is what I was told. I’m not sure what he was told on his side, but they were also given the option to fight this date with me and he turned down both of them. That’s what I’ve been told.”
Despite this, Dariush is understanding about Poirier’s decision. “I can’t force a man to fight me,” said Dariush. “The opportunity to fight a guy like Dustin Poirier would be amazing because of his skills and what he’s done in this sport, but I understand his legacy and he wants certain types of fights, and he’s done what he’s done in this sport. If he wants to pick his fights at this point, all the best.”
Poirier’s refusal over his reported preferences is not surprising. Aside from Dariush, the fighter also openly turned down the idea of a fourth matchup with Conor McGregor. As the fighter explained recently, another fight with the Irish man is no longer needed as he expects the verbal demand to continue in case he defeats him for the third time.
“I probably would (say yes) – try to shut him up once and for all,” Poirier said. “But even if I slap his ass around again, he’s still going to be chatting. So we’ll see.”
