Dustin Poirier ‘can’t leave this sport on a loss,’ confirms list of possible next opponents

Dustin Poirier has a list of names.

At UFC 302, Poirier fell short in his bid to become lightweight champion, losing by fifth-round submission to Islam Makhachev. Following the bout, Poirier suggested it may have been his final fight in MMA, but in the past few weeks, “The Diamond” has walked that back, saying he still feels the urge to compete. And now it seems all but a forgone conclusion that Poirier will step back into the octagon at least once more.

“The shift needs to be internally for what the motivation for fighting is,” Poirier told Jon Anik and Kenny Florian on the Anik & Florian podcast. “Because if it’s not about the world title, why am I fighting? And after the Islam fight, when I got back home I thought, ‘Maybe this is it?’ A few weeks went by, injuries started hurting less and less post-fight, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to do this again.’ I’ve never lost two in a row. I can’t leave this sport on a loss.

“But at the same time, I want to be 100 percent in it if I’m going to do it again, because I don’t want to disrespect the sport. I honor this stuff. I do. I just want to do it right and get my hand raised and leave on my terms with a win. But that’s no guarantee. I could go back out there and somebody could whip my ass. That’s the thing.”

The biggest name tied to a possible Poirier return is Nate Diaz. Poirier and Diaz have a long history together, and with Diaz recently suggesting he might return to UFC, the matchup would make sense for the promotion. However, Poirier is skeptical that will happen.

“The thing with Diaz is — I’m in contact with the UFC behind the scenes about my next moves all the time,” Poirier said. “We talk when I want to fight again, how bad are my injuries, things like that. And the last time I brought his name up, they didn’t want to talk about him, they didn’t want to do business. A lot of fans don’t know, behind the scenes he’s such a struggle to deal with that I think they just don’t want to do it anymore.

“But if it came around, if that was something that was a reality, I 100 percent would take the fight right now, sign a contract today. And Nate knows that because I’ve done it a few times.”

So if Diaz isn’t likely, who might serve as Poirier’s possible retirement opponent?

It turns out, there are a few options.

Anik listed a number of possible matchups for the former interim lightweight champion, and Poirier confirmed his next (and likely final) fight will be someone from the that list.

“Do you believe that your next opponent will come out of this batch of names?” Anik asked. “Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, and Colby Covington.”

“100 percent,” Poirier responded. “... For sure. If I do fight again and when I do fight again, it will be definitely one of those guys you just said.”