Dustin Poirier has not been retired for 12 months yet, and he is already naming a second opponent he would come back to fight.
Speaking on Paramount’s Deep Waters podcast, Poirier responded to a suggestion from co-host Jorge Masvidal that a fight with Nate Diaz still makes sense, and the response made clear the idea has never left his mind.
“Man, I still want to whip Nate’s a–.”
When Din Thomas suggested Diaz might be the one opponent he would genuinely return for, Poirier did not disagree. He then explained the history behind the fight that never happened, addressing the 2018 Madison Square Garden situation, where the bout fell apart, and Diaz used the circumstances to paint Poirier as the reason.
“I’d come back to fight him because it got away and he lied and the fans were on his side. The UFC knew I was going to fight Nate during our first matchup at Madison Square Garden but Nate was having trouble with his negotiation. I don’t know what was going on but UFC called me and said ‘hey, we want to keep you on the Madison Square Garden card, would you fight so-and-so?’ I said ‘listen, if it’s not Nate I’m not fighting. I’m going to go and have my hip taken care of. If it’s Nate I’ll fight.’ They offered me Kevin Lee, they offered me a few other names. I said ‘I’m going to go have surgery on my hip.’ Then Nate used that to use me as like the fall guy, fight’s off because I pulled out. But I never pulled out, I just didn’t want to fight anyone but Nate. Why not?”
Poirier retired following a loss to Max Holloway in Louisiana last year. He had previously entertained the idea of a third fight with Justin Gaethje. Diaz is currently preparing for his fight against Mike Perry on the MVP MMA card on Netflix on May 16.