Dustin Poirier Speaks To UFC About Fighting Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier.

Getty Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier.

A fight may be in the works between a former UFC interim champion and a massively popular fighter from Stockton, California. Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier has recently claimed on Twitter that he has spoken with the UFC about fighting Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout.

Here is the tweet from Poirier:

The Diamond’s tweet reads, “Spoke with the [UFC] last night you gonna take the fight [Nate Diaz]? 170LBS May in California or July international fight week? Come get this work.” Diaz has yet to respond to Poirier’s tweet.

A fight between Diaz and Poirier would be a high profile match that has the potential to do great business for the UFC. There hasn’t been an official announcement for the fight cards that The Diamond mentions, including which matches will be headlining the events.

During an interview with Jim Rome, UFC president Dana White did, however, say that a welterweight title fight between champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Jorge Masvidal will happen during the international fight week in July.

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The Diamond Has Never Fought At Welterweight

Dustin Poirier has never competed at welterweight in his professional mixed martial arts career. The Diamond debuted in the UFC in January 2011 as a featherweight, and after eleven fights in the division, he moved up to lightweight. He has fought 12 times in the lightweight division and has been victorious on nine occasions.

If The Diamond decides to move up to welterweight, he will presumably be giving up a size advantage to Diaz. Diaz has a lot of experience in the UFC welterweight division, clocking in eight bouts.


Poirier and Diaz Were Scheduled to Fight In The Co-Main Event of UFC 230

The two men have been scheduled to fight each other once before, and it was in the lightweight division. They were supposed to be the co-main event of UFC 230, but a hip injury forced Poirier to withdraw from the bout.

UFC 230, which took place in November 2018, was going to be Diaz’s first fight in two and a half years, and it would have been his comeback fight after his decision loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 202. But because The Diamond pulled out of the fight, Diaz pushed his comeback fight until August of 2019 when he fought and defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 241.

Poirier wouldn’t be sidelined from injury for long, as he fought Max Holloway in April 2019 at UFC 236. In one of the most impressive performances of his career, The Diamond won the interim UFC lightweight belt via unanimous decision.

In his last fight, he was submitted by UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout at UFC 242 in September 2019.

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