Dustin Poirier is edging ever closer to the final fight of his incredible 14-year UFC career which has seen him experience monumental highs and lows.
Following his unsuccessful title challenge against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 last June, Poirier revealed that he likely only has one fight left in his career.
Since then, Poirier has been called out by the likes of Paddy Pimblett for his retirement fight but is still yet to decide who his final opponent will be.
Dustin Poirier has been part of one of the strongest divisions in UFC history whilst remaining near the top of the lightweight division and it recently got much stronger with the addition of Ilia Topuria.
Dustin Poirier backs Ilia Topuria to be offered immediate lightweight title shot
It was recently surprisingly announced by UFC boss, Dana White, that Topuria has vacated his featherweight title and will permanently move up to 155lbs.
The Spaniard has continuously teased at a move up to lightweight as Topuria has continuously called out Makhachev for a super fight while he was 145lb champion.
Despite that, Makhachev and his team don’t want to fight Topuria straightaway as they believe that ‘El Matador’ needs a win over a lightweight contender before he can receive a title shot and Makhachev doesn’t want to fight another ‘small featherweight’.
This has caused quite a disagreement between the teams as Topuria’s manager has hit back, reminding them of how close Makhachev’s first fight against Alexander Volkanovski was.
Poirier was one of the names suggested to Topuria by Makhachev and his team, despite Khabib Nurmagomedov believing Poirier is ‘finished’.
With ‘The Diamond’ unlikely to take a fight against the 28-year-old for his final fight, he has admitted that he believes Topuria deserves an immediate title shot against the Russian pound-for-pound number one but has his reservations about his size.
“It’s respectable and honorable to vacate the belt to not hold up the division where guys have been working so hard to get their shot at the title, he’s doing it the right way,” Poirier told MMA Fighting.
“Everyone says he’s heavy and walks around heavy but if he can make 145lbs, I don’t know how big he is because some of these lightweights are huge.
“With a guy like him, vacating the belt and moving up, finishing Max Holloway the way he did, I would give him a crack at the lightweight title right off the bat,” Poirier continued.
Who could Dustin Poirier fight in his UFC retirement fight?
After such an incredible UFC career which saw him become interim lightweight champion and pick up wins over the likes of Conor McGregor and the aforementioned, Max Holloway, there aren’t many options for ‘The Diamond’s’ last dance.
Initially, Poirier’s first choice was a trilogy fight against Justin Gaethje with the two currently 1-1 after two incredible battles. Despite that, Gaethje recently booked a fight against Dan Hooker.
A fight that has always eluded Poirier throughout his UFC tenure, is a scrap against Nate Diaz. Porier and Diaz have feuded online for several years and it’s a fight that would make perfect sense for both.
Of course, the big stumbling block is that Diaz no longer fights under the UFC banner, however, he left on relatively good terms, leaving the door slightly open for his return.