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UFC star Dustin Poirier doesn’t believe his proposed third fight against Conor McGregor should be for the UFC lightweight championship. The 32-year-old American revealed his way of thinking to Joe Rogan during a recent podcast interview.
“No, I don’t think so,” Poirier said.
“It should be Charles Oliveira?” Rogan asked.
Poirier replied, “Conor has been away for so long. His last two fights at 155, he’s lost, so you can’t put him in there for a title fight.”
For Poirier, it basically all boils down to the UFC not being able to justify putting McGregor in a championship fight right now at 155 after his two consecutive losses, especially in one of the most stacked divisions in the company.
“How could you justify doing that when you have guys like Oliveira?”
You can watch the interview below.
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More About Current UFC Lightweight Rankings
Poirier is currently ranked No. 1 at 155. Justin Gaethje is ranked No. 2, and Oliveira is ranked No. 3.
The lightweight champion is still listed as Khabib Nurmagomedov even though the Russian retired after his last fight.
Poirier and Oliveira are the two highest-rated lightweights who won their last fights. Gaethje lost to Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 in October 2020.
Meanwhile, McGregor is ranked No. 6 behind Michael Chandler (No. 4) and Tony Ferguson (No. 5).
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Poirier vs. McGregor 3
Poirier said his preference for the presumed rematch with McGregor would happen in “June or July”.
The American wants to recover from his last fight and camp, and he believes the third fight makes sense for a summer showdown.
Poirier also admitted that he would for sure accept the third fight as a UFC title fight if that’s the direction the UFC decided to go.
Rogan asked, “But, if Khabib retires and they say ‘hey, this is for all the marbles’, you’re not going to say no. What are you going to say? Are you going to say ‘I’m a purist’? What are you going to say? If Dana pulls you aside and says ‘it doesn’t have to make sense, come on, let’s make some money?'”
Poirier confirmed to Rogan that he would fight McGregor for the UFC lightweight title.
“Of course, we’re fighting for the belt,” Poirier said.
So it seems like Poirier is agreeable to making the third fight happen, and it also is certain that Poirier would be open to fighting McGregor for the UFC’s 155-pound title even if he doesn’t think McGregor deserves that chance.
“We’ll see what happens. I think that will be something soon because we got to keep it moving. They’re not going to sit forever chasing Khabib, and the division has to move on,” Poirier said.
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