Sports
Add news
News

Dustin Poirier: Conor McGregor fight should be for undisputed UFC title if Khabib's retired

0 2

If Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement decision sticks, Dustin Poirier says the lightweight division needs to crown a new champion. It just so happens he’s about to compete in the bout that could help make that happen.

Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) is set to rematch former lightweight and featherweight titleholder Conor McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 257 main event Jan. 23. It’s a marquee fight for the 155-pound weight class, but the stakes could be raised even higher.

Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) announced he was done with MMA competition following his title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October. UFC president Dana White has since said he’s confident “The Eagle” will come back for at least one more, but Nurmagomedov has refuted that for the time being and insisted he has no desire to come back.

“I think if Khabib’s retired and not coming back, then I’m next in line for the title shot, and this could be the title fight,” Poirier told MMA Junkie. “This could be for the undisputed belt. I think that’d make sense. Dana’s saying one thing, Khabib’s saying another. Who knows what the truth is? Time will tell.”

Poirier said he’s not rushing for the UFC to put a title designation on his fight. There are still two months until his bout with McGregor, and a lot can happen during that window. Moreover, Nurmagomedov is just a month removed from beating Gaethje, which isn’t all that much time to mull over how he truly feels.

Poirier understands the choice not to take the belt off Nurmagomedov immediately since emotions were running high for him after a difficult year in both his career and personal life. He doesn’t appear to be expressing dramatically different thoughts as time goes on, though, and Poirier hopes a call is made by his fight.

“The division has to move on,” Poirier said. “The only thing that makes me think the guy is serious is, first of all, he doesn’t seem like a bull(expletive)er, and if he said he’s done right after the fight and his father just passed away, it’s an emotional moment. You just got another title defense, you get to go back home to your family. You might say those things right after. But a month later, you’re still singing the same tune? Maybe the guy’s mind is somewhere else. Maybe he is moving forward. Maybe, like he said, he’s accomplished everything he set out to do. I don’t know. But if he is done, somebody has to fight for that belt.”

If for whatever reason Nurmagomedov’s future doesn’t have a clear answer by the time UFC 257 rolls around, Poirier said he’ll be content going into a non-title fight. He brushed off the idea of an interim title, which is something he’s already done and won.

“I want the undisputed belt,” Poirier said. “I think in this situation, with him just defending, I don’t think an interim belt makes a whole lot of sense.”

Whether it’s added to his fight at UFC 257 or not, Poirier said he knows UFC gold isn’t far off for him. If beating McGregor doesn’t put a belt around his waist, Poirier said he’s certain the next fight would give him that opportunity for real.

“If the title’s not on the line for this fight with Conor, it’s going to be the next fight,” Poirier said. “After I beat Conor, my next fight will be for the belt if this isn’t it.”

Загрузка...

Comments

Комментарии для сайта Cackle
Загрузка...

More news:

Read on Sportsweek.org:

Other sports

Sponsored