Joseph Duffy suffering a concussion and not being able to compete in UFC Dublin’s headliner this Saturday is a bummer, not only for fans who wanted to attend the event, but first and foremost for Dustin Poirier, who trudged through a 10-week training camp for nothing. “It just really sucks,” Poirier now told MMA Junkie in his first lengthy statement after the fight got cancelled yesterday.
The UFC immediately offered Poirier TUF: Smashes winner Norman Parke, who could have saved the show, but the “Diamond” turned him down and now explained his decision.
“Duffy’s been in my crosshairs. They did offer me Norman Parke. They said, ‘Hey, Norman Parke will fight you.’ I was going back and forth … but they needed a decision right now, so I sat back with my coaches and talked to my coaches. They said if we can get the fight rescheduled, let’s just do that. We want the guy we’ve been preparing for.”
Besides Parke, several other fighters offered, to jump in and face Poirier, including Ross Pearson and interim-featherweight champion Conor McGregor. While none of them have been presented to Poirier as a possible replacement, he would have turned them down too.
“I didn’t know all (those fighters offered to step in), but I’ll fight all of those guys – no problem; but let’s set it on paper,” Poirier said. “This is a business. I’m a professional athlete. This isn’t, ‘poke somebody and start a street fight.’ I was contracted to fight a guy who I prepared for, and it didn’t happen. Now we’re not just going to scramble and pick a guy and fight.
“They said it was up to me, and I talked to my coaches and we made a business decision, really. This isn’t a Toughman competition; you don’t just fight everybody because they want to fight. When I step in there, I’m going to be prepared, and I’m going to fight my ass off and be willing to fight ’til the death. But I’ll be ready for the person I’m fighting.”
Poirier also noted that he would have taken the fight against Parke, if he needed “the money that bad”, but he says he’d rather work his way up to the top of the 155-pound division by choosing his fights wisely.
“I’m done making foolish decisions and running into fights and fighting off emotions and this and that. I’m a professional, and I’m going to the top and I’m going to do it right. He also hinted that we may still see the fight against Duffy — only on a later date.
“I talked to Dana (White) as well and he said we might be able to get this fight rescheduled, so I’m hoping for that, maybe in January in Vegas. Or whenever he’s healthy.”
A flyweight bout between Patrick Holohan and Louis Smolka will now serve as the evening’s new headlining bout.