Dustin Poirier is expected to be the first fighter to challenge newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
After falling short in his effort to dethrone former lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, ‘The Diamond’ has since gone on to win three fights in a row.
During his recent run, Poirier (28-6 MMA) scored a decision win over Dan Hooker and most recently picked up back-to-back TKO victories over Conor McGregor.
Having fought the who’s who of the lightweight division and after conquering ‘Notorious’ in their rubber match, Dustin Poirier says defeating Charles Oliveira for the undisputed lightweight title is the last box he has to tick off.
“For me, being undisputed world champion was the goal from the beginning,” Poirier said in a recent interview with the Daily Mail (via MMAMania). “If I can tick that box, I’ve done it all in the sport of mixed martial arts.”
Although the UFC has yet to officially announce a date and venue for Dustin Poirier vs. Charles Oliveira, ‘The Diamond’ is clearly already doing his homework on his soon to be Brazilian foe.
“Oliveira is a very dangerous guy,” Poirier said. “I think he’s improving more and more in his striking, putting guys down, he’s long especially for that weight class and I think he’s probably the best jiu-jitsu practitioner in the UFC roster right now.”
“He’s aggressive and very offensive with his jiu-jitsu. He doesn’t just use it to protect himself or get out of bad positions, he attacks people with it and finishes fights with it so he’s a very dangerous opponent who has paid his dues and fought a long time in the UFC.”
If Dustin Poirier does go on to dethrone Charles Oliveira in their upcoming fight, a long list of title defenses does not appear in the plans for the Louisiana native.
“We’ll see man,” he said. “I’ll probably just go and sell hot sauce.”
Do you think Dustin Poirier would actually hang up the gloves if he dethrones Charles Oliveira later this year?