Getty Dustin Poirier
Longtime MMA official turned fight analyst John McCarthy recently questioned if UFC’s Dustin Poirier is confident in his chances against Colby Covington.
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour,” Poirier said the UFC offered him a July bout against “Chaos.” Poirier said that although he doesn’t want to fight Covington, he’ll accept the match if the No. 1-ranked welterweight wants it.
The reason Poirier gave for not wanting to lock horns with Chaos is that “The Diamond” wants to avoid Covington making “a dollar off of fighting” him. The top-ranked lightweight said that he doesn’t “hate anyone, but if there was a line right before hate, Colby’s standing right there.”
But, Poirier doesn’t want to sit on the shelf any longer, so he’s prepared to battle his former teammate.
During the same interview, Poirier also mentioned that he’s been offered a showdown with Nate Diaz multiple times. However, the match hasn’t come to fruition.
Talking on his “Weighing In” podcast alongside his co-host John Thomson, McCarthy recently questioned the state of the Diaz fight, as well as Poirier’s confidence in dueling Covington.
“If they’ve offered [the Nate Diaz fight] twice to him, it means that Nate didn’t want it maybe?” McCarthy questioned via Sportskeeda.com. “I don’t know if he accepted it. The one thing I will say is this – when he’s sitting there saying he doesn’t want Colby making money off him, that’s not the way to look at it.
“You’re making money off of Colby… They’ve been in the gym together, they know where they’re strong and where they’re weak against each other. Maybe he doesn’t have the confidence going against Colby.”
Covington Challenged Poirier After His Win Against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272
Covington last competed inside the Octagon in March when he defeated Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision at UFC 272. Like Poirier, Masvidal is Covington’s former teammate from American Top Team in Florida.
And sticking with the same theme of fighting ex-training partners, Covington challenged The Diamond during his post-fight interview.
“I just took care of Miami street trash; now it’s time to take care of Louisiana swamp trash,” Covington said via Bleacher Report. “Where you at Dustin Poirier … You said it’s on sight; name the site.”
“You’re next!” Covington concluded.
Covington Took a Shot at Poirier’s Wife During the UFC 272 Post-Fight Presser
During the UFC 272 post-fight press conference, Chaos once again took aim at Poirier, as well as The Diamond’s wife.
“Let’s do it, bro,” Covington said. “You said it’s on sight, man. Let’s do it, man. Stop talking reckless to the media, man. If I talk to the media and say things, I come out here and I back it up. I’m a man of my words.
“So we can do it anywhere. We don’t have to do it in the UFC Octagon. If he wants to do it in a park or in the street, my only one stipulation is he let the world watch and enjoy themselves, just like he does when Conor’s in bed with his wife.”