Hip Surgery Will Sideline Poirier A Bit Longer

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Dustin Poirier was hoping to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) return in early January 2020, but now “The Diamond” is expected to be a out a little while longer. Dustin took to social media to share the news.

“Looks like I won’t be able to fight again until February or March,” he wrote on Twitter. “Gonna be out 6 weeks.”

As for the reason behind his delayed return, it all has to do with upcoming hip surgery, as Poirier tells MMA Fighting that he will be going under the knife to in order for doctors to repair multiple tears in the labrum of his hip. They will also be reshaping his femur bone.

Poirier is coming off a submission loss to current UFC Lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, at UFC 242 on Sept. 7, 2019 in Abu Dhabi (see it again here). The loss was Dustin’s first since 2016 and just his third overall in four years.

After briefly hinting at retirement, Poirier then started campaigning for a rematch against Conor McGregor, who defeated “The Diamond” way back at UFC 178 via first round knockout.

“Notorious,” meanwhile, wasn’t feeling the do-over one bit, which forced Dustin — the former UFC interim 155 pound champion — to let it be for the time being. In turn, Dan Hooker took his shot to call out the Louisiana native, but was ultimately rejected.

Now, Poirier (30) is set on focusing on his health first before mounting a comeback on his way to climbing back to the top of the division and into another world title fight.