Getty Dustin Poirier punches Dan Hooker in their lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on June 27, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When a fan looks at the UFC lightweight division, there aren’t many more exciting matches to be made than No. 2 ranked Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier vs. No. 3 ranked Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson, and both men are interested in the bout. From a rankings standpoint, the fight makes a lot of sense — the winner could receive the next shot at the lightweight title once it is unified between champion between Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Justin Gaethje.
From a pure entertainment perspective, Poirier vs. Ferguson is a barn burner featuring two of the best to ever do it. Both fighters have a massive following in the MMA community, making it a bout that the hardcore fans will get behind in droves.
And if fans are lucky, they could see it before the end of 2020. On Monday night, a fan tweeted to The Diamond asking him if a fight with El Cucuy would happen later this year. Poirier answered: “Waiting on the call.”
In a recent interview with ESPN, Ferguson shared his interest in competing against either Conor McGregor or The Diamond. He said, “You want Conor, give me Conor. You want Poirier, we’ll make it happen, then we’ll fight for the winner of the Gaethje and Khabib fight.”
McGregor is currently retired from MMA, and UFC president Dana White is confident that McGregor won’t be competing in 2020. A match between Ferguson and Poirier is seemingly ready to be booked, and it could headline a UFC Fight Night or UFC on ESPN fight card before the end of the year.
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Poirier Last Competed in June When He Defeated Dan Hooker By Unanimous Decision
If Poirier and Ferguson do fight, The Diamond will be coming off an impressive victory over Dan Hooker. The two fought on June 27 in an instant classic. The match went all five rounds with each man having success multiple times during the bout.
As history has it, Poirier got his hand raised as the victor by unanimous decision. It was The Diamond’s first match since losing his championship match against Khabib at UFC 242 in September 2019. The Diamond entered the Octagon that night as the interim champion and still has dreams of one day earning undisputed gold.
Since moving back up to the lightweight division in 2015, Poirier has gone 10-2 with one no contest. In that stretch, he has earned victories over former UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez, current interim champ Justin Gaethje and former featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Ferguson’s 12-Fight Win Streak Was Snapped in His Last Outing
El Cucuy is one of the most dominant lightweight fighters to ever compete in the UFC. Ferguson is 14-2 in the division, which included a 12-fight win streak which was snapped by Gaethje. Ferguson was originally supposed to challenge Khabib for the lightweight title at UFC 249, however the Russian fighter was forced off the card and replaced by Gaethje.
El Cucuy and Gaethje fought for the interim lightweight belt in May during UFC 249. Ferguson showed his patented grit and resilience, however he was defeated by fifth-round TKO.
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