The highly anticipated rematch between No. 2 ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier and No. 4 ranked Conor McGregor finally went down on Saturday night at UFC 257, and “The Diamond” left the Octagon victorious.
After a closely contested first round, Poirier was able to put the Irishman away with savage calf kicks and boxing, hurting and dropping “Notorious” en route to a second-round TKO victory. With the win, Poirier has set himself up for another massive fight in the promotion. And he appears to have two names at the top of his list.
After the fight, Poirier expressed interest in fighting McGregor for the third time. They are 1-1 against each other and a trilogy fight would put a capstone on their rivalry. Another opponent The Diamond has in mind is UFC superstar Nate Diaz. The two have a history together as they were briefly booked to fight in 2018, but Poirier pulled out due to injury. The two have also gone back and forth on social media, throwing verbal jabs at each other.
“I mean, a rematch with Conor interests me,” Poirier said during the UFC 257 post-fight press conference, “[I’ve] always wanted to whip Nate Diaz’s a**, that interests me.”
“I’m sure something will make sense. But just right now, I don’t know. Me and Conor are 1-1, Nate Diaz got away and likes to talk a lot of s*** online. But I just got to go back home and we’ll see.”
Poirier isn’t interested in fighting Michael Chandler, who picked up a win over Dan Hooker in the co-main event. He suggested Chandler fight No. 3 ranked Charles Oliveira.
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov appears to be retired, and if he is, the UFC will strip him of the belt at some point. If that happens, Poirier will be a likely candidate fighting for the belt.
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Diaz Challenged Poirier The Next Day
A day after Poirier’s massive victory, Nate Diaz took to Instagram to challenge The Diamond. He wrote, “I’m training to whoop ur a** next. Be about it don’t talk about it.
Poirier ‘Felt Flat’ on Saturday Night, Said He ‘Doesn’t Like This Anymore’ But Has Many More ‘A** Whoopings’ to Hand Out
GettyDustin Poirier punches Conor McGregor during their UFC 257 bout on January 23.
After Poirier defeated McGregor, the fighter walked to the side of the cage near UFC color commentator Daniel Cormier and said he “didn’t like this anymore.” During the presser, Poirier clarified what he meant. The Diamond didn’t “enjoy the process” of the last few weeks on Fight Island. However, he said he has many more “a** whoopings” to hand out.
“I just felt like in the locker room, I felt flat,” The Diamond said. “I mean, I’m damn good at it. But you know, I felt flat. And I just felt like, really calm. I don’t know, it’s hard to say, but that’s it exactly. I don’t really like this anymore, I don’t know. We’ll see.”
“Dude, I got so many a** whoopings left to hand out. I feel like I’m just hitting my prime, right? And [I’m] just putting everything together. My body and my mind are finally on the same wavelength and [I] just turned 32 this week. We’ll see what happens, man.
“The only part I liked was the fight this whole last two weeks. So, I don’t know if that answers the question or draws more questions, but I didn’t enjoy the process these last two weeks. The only part I liked was fighting.”
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UFC 257 Results
See the results from Saturday’s UFC 257 below:
Main Card
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier def. Conor McGregor via second-round TKO
Lightweight: Michael Chandler def. Dan Hooker via first-round TKO
Women’s Flyweight: Joanne Calderwood def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Middleweight: Makhmud Muradov def. Andrew Sanchez via third-round TKO
Women’s Strawweight: Marina Rodriguez def. Amanda Ribas via second-round TKO
Preliminary Card
157-Pound Catchweight: Arman Tsarukyan def. Matt Frevola via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Middleweight: Brad Tavares def. Antonio Carlos Junior via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Women’s Bantamweight: Julianna Pena def. Sara McMann via third-round rear-naked choke
Light Heavyweight: Marcin Prachnio def. Khalil Rountree Jr. via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Early Preliminary Card
150-Pound Catchweight: Movsar Evloev def. Nik Lentz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Flyweight: Amir Albazi def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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Nate Diaz Challenges UFC Star: ‘Training to Whoop Your A**’