Dustin Poirier News

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

Just a few months away, former unofficial ‘Most Violent” champion Justin Gaethje will take on Dustin Poirier in April. People are already talking about this fight like it is going to be a Fight of the Night, maybe even a Fight of the Year contender. If Gaethje’s last fight with Eddie Alvarez is of any indication, it definitely could be. Poirier was on his way to the same nominations, had his fight with Alvarez not ended with illegal blows. Unable to earn retribution, he’ll look to leapfrog Alvarez to a title shot with a win over the former WSOF lightweight champ. “With Justin Gaethje, there are two things that are going to happen with this guy. Either, he’s doubting himself after his first loss and his first time getting finished, or he’s going to be focused on being the best he can be when he comes back. I’m prepared for either. I’m expecting Justin to go back to the drawing board and maybe use less of his brawling style and use more of the wrestling that people forgot that he had and try and try to become a complete fighter. I’m preparing for the best guy ever. […] “That’s all I’m focused on, it will be three former world champions that I’ve fought in a row in my last three fights and that’s all I’m focused on.”

Drake Riggs - January 17, 2018

There is one word that will always follow Justin Gaethje for the rest of his career. You already know what it is…yup, violence. Pretty much every single one of Gaethje’s nineteen professional bouts has been violence personified and that’s just how the former World Series of Fighting champion likes it. In his last fight, he suffered his first ever career loss to former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez in what was crowned by the UFC as the best fight of 2017. Reports have surfaced today from MMAJunkie’s Steven Marocco that Gaethje may have his next fight and it’s a matchup that will most certainly deliver the action. His opponent is expected to be Dustin “the Diamond” Poirier and it’s expected to happen at either UFC 222 on March 3 in Las Vegas or UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

Dustin Poirier has been angling for a big fight for some time. Unfortunately, he’s had a very difficult time finding a willing dance partner. His priority, of course, has been a rematch with former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who he battled to a disappointing No Contest last May. At present, however, Alvarez is riding high off a huge win over Justin Gaethje, and as such, doesn’t seem interested in getting back in there with Poirier just yet.

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

Dana White just said yesterday that Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson would be the next fight they make. Whether or not it will be for the interim lightweight title or the undisputed lightweight title, will depend solely on if and when Conor McGregor decides he is coming back. This leaves Dustin Poirier wondering just who Eddie Alvarez is going to wait and fight. This is the reason why he believes he finally has Alvarez in match-making checkmate. “It’s the only fight that makes sense right now. There are two guys ranked above me right now, but both of them are coming off losses in their most recent fights. I feel like I’m close to the top, but there is a lot going on right now in my division. If they strip Conor [McGregor] of the title and Tony [Ferguson] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] fight for the actual title, there is no one else for me to fight but Eddie Alvarez. All roads lead back to that fight. I knew it was going to happen like this, and I think Eddie and I should fight to see who gets the next shot at the title.”

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

If Justin Gaethje would have managed to get through Eddie Alvarez, no question he would have been pushed toward a title shot. Unfortunately, the former WSOF champion finally met his match after being undefeated for 18 fights. He was proud to go out on shield, but of course he wanted to walk out with the leverage he would have gotten from a huge win. Either way, the warrior that Gaethje is just shrugs and moves on. He’ll set his eyes on a fight with Dustin Poirier or Kevin Lee next. “When you win, you get to pick somebody in front of you, but when you lose; I am still ranked No. 5 in the world, UFC, so coming off a loss now I get to give somebody behind me a chance. So, we will see which one of these loudmouths, Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier. One of them is going to have to get me on my comeback. So I’m trying for that.”

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

Things at lightweight are as convoluted as a Christopher Nolan movie plot. Tony Ferguson is the interim champion, who is waiting for Conor McGregor while he’s off surveying all of his nearly infinite options. Meanwhile, Eddie Alvarez just finished Justin Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov is just a couple of weeks away from fighting Edson Barboza to potentially determine the #1 contender. That leaves Dustin Poirier just below this logjam, potentially a single win away himself of being in title contention. Which is why he’s pushing the UFC to strip McGregor to release the floodgates as much as he wants to fight Alvarez again. “The thing is, the UFC’s pretending with Conor [McGregor], but you have a list of top 10 fighters who aren’t pretending or messing around. This is their lives and their goals and their family’s future, a lot of stuff on the line here. So no pretending — let’s strip the belt from the guy or make him fight. We have to [strip him] and then other fights make sense. Tony [Ferguson] gets the belt, his belt becomes the real belt and then he fights the winner out of these next few fights we have coming at the beginning of the year. We’ve got to clear it up. I’m going to be the world champion next year.” — Dustin Poirier speaking to MMAWeekly.

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

Eddie Alvarez knows that the title picture at lightweight is all jumbled up so he just invented his own belt. It’s not gold, you don’t wear it, but it already has a challenger. Alvarez declared that he took the UFC Most Violent title away from Justin Gaethje at UFC 218, a title that Dustin Poirier wants to pry out of his hands. He’s wanted a rematch with Alvarez ever since their fight ended with an illegal strike and has been rallying for it ever since. He’s done everything he can to get Alvarez to take the fight, now he’s even offered his former opponent a Christmas present. Took my time today and wrapped your Christmas presents nice @Ealvarezfight pic.twitter.com/rneFy3fCpC

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

Eddie Alvarez is now at the top of the lightweight rankings and knocking on the door for another title shot after a Fight of the Night performance against Justin Gaethje. However, there is more than just the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboza who stands between Alvarez and either interim or undisputed gold. Lurking in the shadows and pacing for another crack at Alvarez is Dustin Poirier. At UFC 211, Poirier believes he was track for a big victory of his own until an illegal knee by Alvarez ended their fight. It’s something Poirier isn’t going to let go, especially now that the ‘Most Violent’ nickname is on the line. “I don’t like [Eddie Alvarez] personally. I used to be a big fan of him, I still respect his fighting style. He’s a dog, he’s a warrior, he’s down but never out in fights. I believe that truly. But I used to really respect the guy and look up to him. Now he’s a piece of sh-t. The way he’s lied to himself and lied to people and said stuff about me and about the fight. So, I don’t have any respect for the guy. Eddie went in there with a good game plan [in the fight with Justin Gaethje], used good body work and like I said real good in and out movement. Gaethje stands real flat-footed and if move in and out on a guy like that, you can really finesse him.”

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2017

Earlier this month, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Norfolk, VA, lightweight contender Dustin Poirier stepped into the cage with former champion Anthony Pettis. After two and a half riveting rounds, Poirier earned the win, forcing an apparently injured Pettis out of the fight with a body triangle. While this win stands out as one of the best of his career thus far, Poirier doesn’t regard it as career-changing outright.

Justin Golightly - November 15, 2017

Dustin Poirier and Anthony Pettis finally got to scrap at UFC Norfolk and it did not disappoint. Not only did Poirier beat a former champion, but it was a dominant performance not for the faint of heart. There was blood spewing all over the place from a huge cut that opened up on Pettis. By the end of the fight, both men were turned red and the canvas looked like a Jackson Pollock. There was so much blood that Poirier is still hasn’t got it all off of his body. “From this last one [with Pettis] my hair was matted with blood. Yeah, I took a shower. The crazy thing was the shower tile was white on the ground, so as soon as I got in there I could see how much blood was really pouring off of me. I mean my back, my shins, everything was covered. I’m still cleaning blood out of my ears right now, you know. Like, today. For sure, man. With an ear like this? They got some crevices in there that probably still have a few drops.”

Tom Taylor - November 12, 2017

On Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s action packed visit to Norfolk, Virginia, lightweight contenders Anthony Pettis and Dustin Poirier stepped into the Octagon for a fight that was widely expected to produce fireworks. When the cage door locked, the fight delivered. For two and a half rounds, Pettis and Poirier thrilled onlookers, swapping heavy artillery and submission attempts and painting the Octagon red with their blood. Ultimately, however, Poirier earned himself a TKO win, slapping a tight body triangle onto his foe, whose midsection seemed to be injured.

Chris Taylor - November 11, 2017

After an insane fight, Anthony Pettis taps out and Dustin Poirier earns the biggest win of his career! #UFCNorfolk https://t.co/ITDZtPavf2 — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) November 12, 2017

Justin Golightly - November 8, 2017

Even though Dustin Poirier is about to fight Anthony Pettis this weekend, he still wants to know ‘where the f-ck’ Eddie Alvarez is. We all know the story by now, but these scrappers were on their way to Fight of the Night back at UFC 211 and Poirier felt he was on his way to a victory. We were potentially robbed of both by some illegal shots by Eddie Alvarez which made the bout a no contest. The two still have unfinished business, but Poirier driven toward something even bigger: UFC lightweight gold. “You know, in that fight, everybody who watched it saw I whipped Eddie Alvarez, made him look like an amateur. I mean the guy was two steps behind, couldn’t keep up. And then he kneed me in the back of the head with a shot that was illegal. And in the heat of the moment, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought it could’ve been an accident. I thought he might’ve been hurt, you know, and he was in fight mode, survival mode, he was just fighting and he kneed me. I told the crowd in Dallas to stop booing him, stood up for the guy, then he came out on social media talking sh-t, saying I wanted out of the fight.”

Justin Golightly - November 7, 2017

We’re finally catching our breath from the insanity of UFC 217, but UFC Norfolk is going to get the heart pumping at maximum levels this Saturday. It’s a sleeper card with a ton of good fights, all topped off with Dustin Poirier fighting Anthony Pettis in the main event. It’s a former champion going to battle with a challenger who inching closer to his shot. Poirier is pumped for the match-up, but would have preferred to finish what he and Eddie Alvarez started. “My first original thought [when I heard I’d be fighting Anthony Pettis] was, ‘Where the f-ck is Eddie Alvarez?’. That’s what my first thought was, but then I said alright, this is a fun, exciting fight. This guy is another former world champion. What can I really be upset about? It’s a main event fight – we’re all eyes on us – against another world champion, and I’ll just show again what kind of caliber fighter I am. Right now [the door is closed for fighting Eddie Alvarez] because I’ve been training 12 weeks for Anthony Pettis, so that’s all I’m focused on right now.”

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Dustin Poirier can’t be stopped lately. Just yesterday, Dustin Poirier opened up in a candid interview talking about what he sees for his future, his family and more. Saying he was willing to even leave the UFC if it ends up being better for his career. As a top-ten lightweight, of course his eyes are all over the UFC 216’s main event. The interim title fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee almost didn’t happen, due to a panic-attack inducing weight cut. Don’t worry, the fight is still on, but before he made championship weight Dustin Poirier criticized Kevin Lee for missing it. I would have made weight.

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

The last time we saw Dustin Poirier, he was in the midst of what looked to be a Fight of the Night against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 211. A fight that ended due to illegal knees Alvarez landed to Poirier’s head. Since then, ‘Diamond’ Dustin Poirier has moved on to another former UFC lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis, who he’ll face at UFC Norfolk on November 11th. However, it could be the UFC in which he moves away from, according to a candid new interview. “I love fighting for the UFC. I grew up watching guys in the UFC. It was the biggest company that I know of for mixed martial arts. But as you get older, I have a family, I don’t know how long this window’s going to last. I’d like to fight until I’m 35, 36, we’ll see. But I might have two, three years — I don’t know how many years I have left, so I gotta make the most money that I can right now. And I’m not a guy who’s fighting for fame. I’m fighting because I love to fight and I got a family to feed. I’m a guy who, if I was given an opportunity, I would leave and go fight in ONE FC, go fight in a company you’ve never heard of to maximize my earning potential.”

Tom Taylor - August 8, 2017

Back in May, UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier very nearly picked up the biggest win of his career, as he had former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez on spaghetti legs during their UFC 211 undercard scrap. Regrettably, Poirier was then cracked with a salvo of illegal knees. When he was unable to continue, the bout was ruled a no contest. Unsurprisingly, Poirier then set his sights on a rematch with Alvarez, and for a time, it looked like he’d get one. Ultimately, however, the UFC opted to pit Alvarez against breakthrough star Justin Gaethje, leaving Poirier without a dance partner

Tom Taylor - August 6, 2017

Last month, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis returned to the division he once ruled after a short stint at featherweight. His opponent in this return was ever-exciting veteran Jim Miller. Pettis looked great in his lightweight return, out-duelling Miller to a sound unanimous decision win. Now, he’s keen to step back into the cage and take another step in the direction of the title. During the broadcast of last night’s UFC Fight Night 114, Pettis revealed that he has an opponent in mind for his second fight back in the lightweight division. That opponent is all-action contender Dustin Poirier.