Dustin Poirier claims he asked for Ilia Topuria in retirement fight but UFC ‘never entertained it’

Dustin Poirier will fight for a final time at UFC 318 on July 19, when he takes on his long-time rival Max Holloway.

On paper, Holloway looks like a perfect final opponent for the legendary lightweight Poirier. The pair have fought twice before, and while Poirier has won both encounters, both fights were entertaining. Furthermore, the two MMA legends are among the most beloved fighters in the sport’s history. It makes all the sense in the world.

That being said, Poirier apparently had two other opponents in mind for his retirement fight.

While he is happy to meet Holloway again, he revealed to MMA Junkie that he also asked the UFC for a tie-breaking trilogy with Justin Gaethje, as well as a scrap with former featherweight king Ilia Topuria.

Dustin Poirier had three fighters in mind for final UFC fight

“I was asking Hunter [Campbell] for Gaethje, because we’re 1-1 I wanted to close out that trilogy,” Poirier said. “For some reason they really wanted this fight [with Holloway]. That’s cool because I respect [Holloway] for my last fight.

“When [Topuria] said he was going to 155 [pounds], I texted the UFC and said ‘hey, let me know what’s going on with this guy,'” Poirier added. “But they never entertained it, they told me it’s not happening and they wanted Max.”

As we we covered, the Gaethje fight made sense for Poirier. Poirier won their first encounter by TKO, and Gaethje won their second by head-kick KO. Both fights were thrilling. The grounds for a trilogy have always been there.

As for Topuria, he is no longer the UFC featherweight champ, but he never lost the title. He claimed the title early last year, with a knockout of featherweight legend Alexander Volkanovski. He then defended the belt with a knockout of Holloway, who had never been stopped by punches before — not even in two fights with Poirier, who is a fearsome knockout puncher. After his win over Holloway, Topuria announced plans to move up to lightweight. His first fight in the division is not yet confirmed, but with Holloway and Poirier off the table, all signs point to him fighting champion Islam Makhachev next.