‘I Felt I Can’t Say No’

Dustin Poirier had no demands for his upcoming UFC 302 title shot next month (Sat., June 1, 2024).

Islam Makhachev has his next Lightweight title defense lined up and “The Diamond” will look to score the massive upset. After all the contenders sorted things out amongst each other from UFC 299 to UFC 300, the most readily available was left to face the champion, and that was Poirier.

Although he wound up as the next man up, Poirier wasn’t the first option. The promotion gave Arman Tsarukyan the chance to challenge for gold immediately after his split decision win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 last month (April 13, 2024). Ultimately, the No. 1-ranked contender passed on the opportunity, opening the door for Poirier.

“[UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] started texting me Saturday of 300,” Poirier said on The MMA Hour. “He actually called me and said — I mean as soon as Arman beat Charles — he called me, ‘The fight just ended. I’m walking to the locker room right now.’ I was doing a viewing party up in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun and he’s on the phone saying, ‘I’ll call you back. Give me like one hour. I’ll call you or text you and let you know.’ He went in Arman’s locker room and said, ‘Hey, you’re next. The fight, you know when it is.’

“I understand too from Arman’s side, bro,” he continued. “You just do an eight-week training camp. You go out there and fight, you win. You haven’t even had a chance to process everything and you’re in the locker room taking off your shorts and gloves and cup, and your boss comes in and says, ‘Hey, you ready to go again in six weeks?’ Five weeks, whatever it was at the time. You have to jump back in training camp. Your body’s kind of beat up, and you’re guaranteed the next title shot. I understand that. He’s next in line regardless.”

As training partners at American Top Team (ATT) in Florida, there’s a possibility for Poirier and Tsarukyan to collide following a Poirier title win. Even though one thing led to another on the night of UFC 300, Poirier noted that the two interacted earlier in the day (Mon., May 6, 2024) for the first time since the decisions were made. It was brief but not hostile, said Poirier.

The upcoming title fight will be Poirier’s third at undisputed gold in UFC. A unanimous decision over Max Holloway in their rematch at UFC 236 led Poirier to interim gold in April 2019. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t culminate in the big one when he fell short against Khabib Nurmagomedov later that year. At age 35, Poirier is treating this like his last possible chance at hearing “and new.”

“I was just in a position where I felt I can’t say no,” Poirier said.

“That wasn’t a full notice for me as well, but I’m not in a position to say, ‘Hey, I want eight weeks,’” he added. “I gotta jump on this thing and try to win this thing. This was it on my end. Okay, see you in New Jersey. Boom. Let’s go to work.”