Dustin Poirier thinks a trilogy bout with Conor McGregor is the frontrunner for his next fight.
Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) earned a second-round TKO victory over McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in their anticipated rematch at UFC 257 last month. Since then. speculation about a rubber match has run rampant.
McGregor and his team have made it well known they desire to have a third and deciding clash, and during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that released Friday, Poirier said he’s up for it.
“Conor wants the trilogy, and I do too,” Poirier said during his conversation with Rogan. “If they want to do it, let’s do it.”
Even after his loss at UFC 257, McGregor remains one of the biggest stars in the sport. A trilogy fight with Poirier is a highly lucrative bout, and because of that, finding agreeable terms for all sides could prove challenging
Poirier said he’s being patient, and his ideal timeline would be to fight in June or July. He thinks the UFC will want to try to find a situation in which fans can attend to maximize revenue, and that could throw a wrench into the timeline.
There’s also the aspect of negotiating a deal to Poirier’s satisfaction. The former interim UFC champ admitted there’s still some work to be done in that aspect.
“We’re just trying to get the right deal structured,” Poirier said. “This is going to be a big fight. He knocked me out, (and) I knocked him out. The trilogy. For sure one of the biggest fights this year, but maybe of all time. … I don’t directly talk to them. They talk to my manager, Rob Roveta. We try to put ourselves in the best position to sit at the table with them and have a legit conversation about getting this fight booked. We’re trying to structure the right deal, and when that happens, the fight will be on. Until then, we’ll see.
“I think the trilogy makes a lot of sense and a lot of money. So we’re just trying to get the right deal structured and see what the timeframe is. For a guy like Conor, you want fans in there, even if it’s limited. Right now at the Apex where they’re set up in America, there’s obviously no fans. So where do you do that? And what’s the timeframe?”
Poirier said the McGregor fight is on the forefront of his mind, but he also didn’t rule out moving up to welterweight to fight Nate Diaz or facing Charles Oliveira for a vacant UFC lightweight title, as potential scenarios.
McGregor likely will partially command Poirier’s fate, though, because if the Irishman is determined to make it happen, it almost certainly will.
A big talking point around the potential trilogy match is whether it’s a good idea for McGregor to push for it so soon. “The Notorious” has been vocal about the errors that led to his demise at UFC 257, from potential cage rust due to a layoff to not properly defending Poirier’s leg kicks.
If another fight does happen in the near future, there will be questions about whether McGregor can fix the flaws that were exploited. Poirier said he would go in very confident based off the previous result, but he also knows there are no guarantees of another victory.
“It’s not a lot of time to adjust or work on what he needs to work on for the calf kick, or whatever I want to switch up,” Poirier said. “Getting right back in camp without really evolving outside of training camp. For me, I learn things inside of training camp because it’s just constantly under pressure, but it’s outside of training camps, times like right now where I’m in the gym having fun rolling and doing light kickboxing drills with my friends, where I feel like the big gains are made. When I’m having fun.
“It’s fighting. I don’t think you ever really (have someone’s number). He’ll make adjustments. It’ll be a completely different fight like the first one, and the second was different. The third one is going to be different, as well. Because I’m going to make adjustments, as well. I’ve got to switch it up and keeps things fresh and keep him guessing.”
Besides huge financial upside and a chance to win out the head-to-head series, Poirier said he doesn’t know what else could be at stake going into another McGregor fight. With the future of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC lightweight title still unclear, there’s been talk that a vacant belt could be attached to a trilogy.
Poirier admits he would have a hard time saying no if the UFC decided to make it for a title, but he doesn’t agree McGregor deserves to be in that spot.
“No, I don’t think (he should fight for a title),” Poirier said. “Conor’s been away so long. His last two fights at 155, he’s lost. So you can’t put him in there for a title fight. How could you justify doing that when you have guys like Oliveira?”
Dustin Poirier: Conor McGregor UFC trilogy about getting ‘the right deal structured’
