Beneil Dariush is done campaigning and pushing for a fight against Dustin Poirier.
Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC), who’s long been interested in a fight against Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC), has lost hope on getting the much-desired opportunity and just doesn’t see it as a feasible an option as he once did.
Poirier teased retirement following his title loss to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev earlier this month at UFC 302. This has turned off Dariush.
“I think Dustin is going to be able to pick whoever he wants to fight, really,” Dariush said to Helen Yee. “For me personally, that shipped has passed. I look at Dustin as someone who’s kind of like retired at this point. He never wanted to fight me anyway. I don’t know, I think he’ll pick whoever he wants.
Dariush thinks Poirier will get to call his shot if he returns to the cage – but he’s not sure he even sure if that happens. Dariush is on the fence as to whether fans will see “The Diamond” fight again.
“Just thinking about his character, I don’t think he wants to go out on a loss,” Dariush said. “I think he’s going to want to come back and go out on a W, but we’ll see because if that’s your only motivation, that can be hard for fighting, too. So we’ll see. Maybe he retires.”
Beneil Dariush no longer chasing UFC fight vs. Dustin Poirier: ‘That shipped has passed’