Dustin Poirier has got some options even after a loss against Islam Makhachev.
The third time wasn’t the charm for Poirier who challenged for lightweight gold in the main event of UFC 302 last weekend. The former interim UFC lightweight champion put up a good fight but was ultimately outlasted by Makhachev, seeing his undisputed title dreams go to sleep from a D’Arce choke late in the fifth round.
Poirier, 35, has weighed the idea of retirement but hasn’t made his mind up yet if this will be his last fight. “The Diamond” is still among the best in the world at #4 in the lightweight division with several fights that make sense for Poirier at this point of his career – even outside the weight class.
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Besides getting called out by former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, Poirier would field some intrigue a division above as well from Kamaru Usman, the longtime leader in the pound-for-pound and welterweight rankings where he reigned as champion for three years.
Usman finds himself in a weird position at the weight class like three-time title challenger Poirier, dropping his last two fights to the champ Leon Edwards before a middleweight one-off loss against Khamzat Chimaev.
“He’s got fights,” Usman said of Poirier’s next fight on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast. “The Volkanovski fight could, you know, that’s a fun fight. I’m not in any way throwing my hat in, but if he wants to go up, hey, that’s a fun fight.
“I’m not saying I’m welcoming the fight. Don’t do it. I’m not saying that. But if, and I always put my mind there, if I was to ever compete against a guy like Dustin Poirier, that would be a fantastic one because it’s a guy that I could really respect through and through the process.”
A top welterweight that did throw their hat in to fight Dustin Poirier was a former rival of Usman’s in Colby Covington. The former title challenger called for a fight with Poirier following his decision win over his teammate Jorge Masvidal in March 2022 but the potential matchup later fizzled out with Poirier not wanting “Chaos” to make a dollar off his name.
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Covington took shots at Poirier in the lead-up to his title fight on Saturday and despite giving a backhand to Makhachev, too, he’d pick the champ to defend the title against Poirier.
If the story continues for Dustin Poirier, who should the future UFC Hall of Famer fight next?
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