Dustin Poirier teases move up to welterweight, receives immediate callout from undefeated contender

Dustin Poirier is considering a move up to welterweight which has already piqued the interest of an undefeated contender.

Poirier (29-8 MMA) had his lightweight title aspirations halted earlier this month at UFC 291 when he suffered a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in a fight for the promotion’s BMF title. That frustrating setback served as Dustin’s second in his past three contests, as he was previously submitted by Charles Oliveira in a fight for the lightweight championship at UFC 269.

Having gone 3-2 over his past five fights at 155lbs, Dustin Poirier is now considering a move up to the UFC’s welterweight division.

‘The Diamond’ took to Twitter following last night’s ‘Paul vs. Diaz‘ boxing match where he once again expressed interest in welcoming Nate back to the Octagon.

Nathaniel…..

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 6, 2023

“Nathaniel…..” – Poirier wrote.

The Louisiana native continued by suggesting he would be willing to fight Diaz at 170lbs.

Ok I'll move up

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 6, 2023

“Ok I’ll move up.” 

While Nate Diaz has yet to respond to Dustin Poirier’s offer, another top ranked welterweight contender has.

Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA), who currently boasts a perfect professional record, captioned Poirier’s “I’ll move up” tweet with the following response.

OK https://t.co/uTBdZr3gv0

— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) August 6, 2023

Rakhmonov was scheduled to face Kelvin Gastelum on September 16th, but unfortunately ‘KG’ suffered an injury which forced him to withdraw from the contest.

It is currently unknown if the UFC will attempt to rebook the Rakhmonov vs. Gastelum matchup, or just move on from the bout all together.

Regardless, it appears that Shavkat Rakhmonov is open to the idea of welcoming Dustin Poirier to the welterweight division.

The undefeated 28-year-old has gone 5-0 since joining the UFC ranks in 2020, scoring stoppage wins in all five of those fights. In his most recent effort at UFC 285, Rakhmonov submitted Geoff Neal with a standing rear-naked choke (see that here).

Would you like to see Dustin Poirier move up to welterweight for his next Octagon appearance?