Dustin Poirier is Open to Various Options as Means to Secure Conor McGregor Rematch

Dustin Poirier has made it very clear in recent years that he wants to fight Conor McGregor again. While it remains to be seen if that ever happens, Poirier’s relayed he’s willing to go down several different paths, if that’s what it takes to secure the bout.

Poirier would fight McGregor at middleweight

Poirier faced McGregor for the first time way back in 2014, and he was taken out by the future champ in the first round. The fight ended up marking the last time Poirier fought at featherweight and in the proceeding years, he’s established himself as one of the UFC’s top lightweights.

Well, fast forward to today, and Poirier was booked to fight Dan Hooker on May 16th. But, the fight likely won’t happen due to the coronavirus pandemic (as Hooker resides in New Zealand).

While talking to MMA Fighting recently, Poirier had this to say, when asked about the possibility of facing McGregor again.

“Of course I’d rather have that,” Poirier said. “Like I said, I want the biggest and the highest ranked guys that I can get. Yeah, I’m not circling back around to these guys or begging for fights.

“I’ll fight Dan Hooker no problem, but my job is to get the biggest fights, the most money, get the highest ranked opponents that I can get. So whenever I see people and opportunities that make sense, like me and Conor, of course I would push for that.”

“…It just depends on what the UFC has in mind and Conor’s timeframe when he wants to fight,” Poirier said. “A lot of factors play into all this decision making. But I’m definitely open to the fight.”

“I’d love it at welterweight. I’d love it in a boxing ring. I’d love it in MMA. I’ll take it at 185 [pounds], I don’t care. I just want the biggest fights that I can get, and that’s definitely one of them.”

Could McGregor – Poirier II happen?

You can certainly understand why Poirier is so keen to face McGregor again. Not only is he a competitor, and he wants to get that loss back, obviously it would be a massive fight for him to secure.

But, it would be somewhat surprising if McGregor opted to face Poirier again at this time. One could argue he much more to lose than gain by fighting Poirier once more, since he’s already defeated him.

That said, now that it’s been reported the UFC is still working on having Justin Gaethje fight Tony Ferguson next, McGregor’s options for his next bout have been reduced. You also have to wonder how fights will be matched up in the coming weeks on account of the pandemic (in terms of fighters from outside the United States).

The 31-year-old Poirier (25-6) is coming off a submission loss to lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in September.