Dustin Poirier may be done with his UFC career.
Or, matchmakers may call him with an offer he can’t refuse, prompting the former interim lightweight champion to lace up the gloves and get back into action. Still just 35, “The Diamond” doesn’t have to rush to a decision and can afford to let things play out in the 155-pound division.
If the promotion presents him with a chance to test his skills in the “sweet science,” he will take it.
“I would love [to box], that would be fun and exciting,” Poirier told The MMA Hour. “A boxing match? Of course. A change of speed, a different training camp, just something different. I’ve been doing MMA awhile. I still love the training camps and I love fighting, but to go to purely boxing, the whole training camp would be a lot less wear on my body. No wrestling, no jiu jitsu. It would be boxing, running, swimming — that’s fun, that’s fun stuff. I’d box Nate [Diaz]. Either [sport] but I’d rather [fight] Nate in boxing.”
Poirier was scheduled to fight Diaz at UFC 230 but an injury torpedoed the matchup.
After falling short against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 last month in Newark, Poirier was sent to the back of the line, despite his No. 4 ranking, and is unlikely to earn another lightweight title shot unless something drastic and unexpected happens in the 155-pound division (like this).
Diaz, 39, scored his first professional boxing win by outpointing Jorge Masvidal last weekend in Anaheim.
