The aftermath of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s sudden retirement in late 2020 left a sizable void atop the UFC’s lightweight division. It also opened up a door of opportunity for a group of hungry contenders, many of whom previously lost to the unbeaten pound-for-pound king, to fulfill their career aspirations.
Dustin Poirier chose an altogether different path, however. The former interim champion turned down a shot at the vacant 155-pound title and essentially bet on himself by chasing a big-money rematch against former lightweight king Conor McGregor, which led to an immediate trilogy bout in July.
Thanks to a pair of stoppage victories over McGregor in 2021, Poirier (28-6, 1 NC) will get an opportunity on Saturday at the one thing that has eluded his likely Hall-of-Fame career when he challenges new lightweight champion Charles Oliveira (31-8, 1 NC) in the main event of UFC 269 in Las Vegas.
This is Poirier, 32, getting to have his cake and eat it too in a bid for MMA immortality by finally achieving the one thing that initially fueled the motivation for the native of Louisiana to originally pursue such a violent and unforgiving profession. Yet it’s a chance that likely wouldn’t have been meant to be had Poirier not come through so triumphantly against McGregor.
“That hurts to think about if I would’ve gambled on myself and lost that roll of the dice,” Poirier told CBS Sports on Tuesday. “Not having the opportunity to call myself the undisputed champion would’ve been heartbreaking, as any loss is. The loss of opportunity of something like that — that’s the whole reason I started fighting, to be the best and get to be called the champion of the world. But, hey, things worked out.”
A victory on Saturday would be the capstone to one of the most impressive resumes the sport of MMA has seen in the modern era. The battle-tested Poirier may have lost convincingly in his one shot at the undisputed lightweight title against Nurmagomedov in 2019, but he has won nearly all of the other consequential bouts he has accepted, including wins over McGregor (twice), Max Holloway (twice), Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez and Dan Hooker.
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Poirier is too humble to admit it himself, but he’s a bonafide living legend of the sport who is still operating within the midst of his physical prime. He would prefer to remind anyone willing to hurl such praise that “I have paid my dues and I’m still paying them. Every day, rent is due.”
But similar to the moniker Poirier once made famous of “25 minutes to make life fair,” he has an opportunity against Oliveira to properly cement his name among the greatest to ever step foot inside the Octagon.
“I don’t so much think about where I will fit in, in the whole of mixed martial arts history. I think of the goals that I set out for myself and things that I want to check off my to-do list,” Poirier said. “Being the world champion is at the top of that list on my things to do in life, as far as MMA is concerned. I feel like I have been chasing this goal longer than I haven’t been chasing this goal, in terms of my life.
“I have been going to sleep and waking up thinking about being called a world champion [for most of my life]. This is for me, this isn’t for the history books of MMA. This is a personal thing.”
While the competitor within Poirier might’ve preferred a shot at redemption against Nurmagomedov in order to avenge the loss in his only undisputed title fight to date, the retired Russian great is far from renting space within Poirier’s head.
“The machine moves on,” Poirier said. “This is just how it goes, this is life. The strong survive and I am just trying to rise [back] to the top.”
Two years later, however, it’s noticeable just how much Poirier has continued his evolution of maturity. Some of that is simply due to age and life experience, yet the victories over McGregor seemed more symbolic because they avenged a 2014 loss to “The Notorious” in which Poirier was easily triggered and taken off of his game amid McGregor’s mental warfare.
Poirier has grown leaps and bounds from that initial meeting with McGregor and seems to also be in a different place from where he was in 2019 against Nurmagomedov. Sure, his bank account and marketability has only grown exponentially from the riches that come from sharing a marquee with the Irish superstar, but Poirier has been more focused on using his growing platform for good, particularly with the work he has done with his charitable foundation.
“I’m in a good spot,” Poirier said. “I’m OK with who I am as a fighter, a husband and a fighter. I just feel good and I’m in a good mental space. I believe in my technique, I believe in my skills and abilities. I feel dangerous and I’m in a great spot.”
In case anyone is wondering, Poirier believes his bitter feud with McGregor is far from over, saying, “I don’t think the chapter will ever be closed.” But that’s another topic, and potentially another big-money fight, for another day.
Poirier’s laser focus is exclusively reserved for Oliveira this week and the danger that the native of Brazil brings to this fight as the UFC record holder for most finishes and submissions. Oliveira, 32, showed off his dangerous and unpredictable he could be in May when he survived a near stoppage in the opening round to finish Michael Chandler.
“I look forward to that because that’s the type of fights that I want to be part of,” Poirier said. “[Oliveira] is a finisher and so am I. I expect this to be a crazy fight and unpredictable. I don’t want to go out there with a guy jabbing and circling, trying to win rounds. I want to go out there and fight and leave it all out there and he does the same thing. That gets me up every morning, for sure.
“I have a lot of respect for the guy and he’s a dangerous opponent but I have done everything [to prepare]. Physically, mentally — I have done everything that I am supposed to do to put myself in position to go out there and win a world title on Saturday night. I just have to go out and pull the trigger.”
