Dustin Poirier is still bothered about what the world thinks about the reason behind his canceled fight against Nate Diaz. Ultimately, “The Diamond” thinks it is no longer possible that he will get the chance to face the former UFC fighter again.
Poirier and Diaz were supposed to meet in the octagon at UFC 230, but the fight was not pushed. Reports initially featured the former interim lightweight champ withdrawing from the fight after learning that Diaz would no longer participate in the event. Later, news started saying Diaz would face another fighter, making the impression that Poirier caused the cancelation of the match. Needless to say, Poirier remains unhappy about how everything ended, with him shouldering the fault.
“…I would really like for the UFC or for Nate to be honest and tell the truth about why that fight fell apart because everybody still thinks I pulled out and all this,” Poirier said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour.
“He was playing a bunch of games with the UFC. They started off offering me replacement opponents, telling me was off the card. I had a hip problem going on. I let the UFC know.
“Everyone knew I was gonna fight if it was him. If they use a replacement fighter, I’m out. I’ll fight if it’s him, I’ll push through this training camp, I’m fine, but I need to get this taken care of. And when they started offering replacement opponents, I was like, ‘I’m not fighting these replacement guys.’”
Diaz expressed interest in joining the UFC 300 card, and CEO Dana White seems open to welcoming him back, but Poirier doesn’t think the promotion will really bring the fighter back. In the end, Poirier admitted that he would still like to face Diaz but noted that with the current state of his contract with the UFC and Diaz now pursuing boxing, it might no longer be possible.
“The Nate one’s gonna get away, and I don’t know how many fights I have left — I think six with the UFC,” Poirier said. “He’s moving on to boxing and stuff. I just don’t see how our paths will cross. But I just wanted to fight this guy because I grew up watching him.”
With all this, Poirier’s priority is the present. After his loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 291, the fighter will get the chance to redeem himself by facing Benoit Saint-Denis. The veteran opened the betting odds as the underdog in the match, but Poirier is unbothered by this, saying, “This is where I perform the best.”
