UFC president Dana White recently gave his thoughts on the potential fight between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz.
The two stars were set to fight a few years back, however the match never came to fruition after “The Diamond” pulled out with an injury. Now both men have open schedules and on December 15, 2021, they confirmed that they would fight each other next month.
Poirier shared a post on Instagram calling for a fight with Diaz, which in turn prompted Diaz tweeted: “I’ll fight Dp in January don’t be a scared lil b**** this time now or never.”
I’ll fight Dp in January don’t be a scared lil bitch this time now or never
The two continued in a back and forth, and MMA reporter Ariel Helwani revealed that he had spoken to the combatants, with both confirming that they’d be down to fight in January 2022. “Both @NateDiaz209 and @DustinPoirier are legitimately serious about fighting each other next month, I’m told,” Helwani tweeted. “Both would accept the fight right away for January.”
Now, January is likely too soon of a date because UFC 270 is already jammed full with two title fights. However, the fight could happen, according to White.
During the UFC Fight Night 199 post-fight press conference, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn asked the UFC president about the possible scrap. And White confirmed that the UFC will schedule Poirier vs. Diaz if there’s an appetite for it.
“Yeah,” White said. “Listen, if that’s a fight that they want and the fans want to see, we’ll do it”
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Poirier & Diaz Are Both Coming Off a Loss
The Diamond and Diaz were both unsuccessful in their most recent UFC matches. Poirier fought for the lightweight title earlier this month at UFC 269, and he lost to champion Charles Oliveira by third-round rear-naked choke. The defeat halted Poirier’s three-fight win streak, and it’s the second time The Diamond fell short in a bid to earn undisputed UFC gold.
Poirier has a professional MMA record of 28-7 with one no contest.
On the other end, Diaz returned to the Octagon in June 2021 and fought top-ranked welterweight Leon Edwards at UFC 263. Diaz lost a unanimous decision to the Englishman, however he nearly finished Edwards in the latter part of the fifth round, preserving much of his stock. He’s 0-2 in his last two fights, losing at UFC 244 in November 2019 to Jorge Masvidal as well.
Diaz’s MMA record is 20-13.
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The Fight Would Likely Take Place at Welterweight
Even though The Diamond is currently ranked No. 1 in the lightweight division, a fight with Diaz would likely happen north of 155 pounds. Diaz has competed at welterweight since 2016 and he doesn’t appear to want to cut back down to lightweight.
Poirier has said on several occasions that he’d welcome a fight at 170 pounds, so if the two are matched up, it’ll likely happen there.
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Dana White Gives Take on Booking Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz