Dustin Poirier feels a win over Eddie Alvarez will get him closer to a title shot than he’s ever been.
Poirier will meet Alvarez this Saturday night (May 13) inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The bout is set to be the featured fight on the FX portion of the UFC 211 prelims.
In a recent interview with MMAJunkie.com, “The Diamond” said he’ll be right up there with the top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweights if he can defeat Alvarez:
“I know I’m right there in the mix. This performance on Saturday will put me even closer (to the belt). I feel I’m one away with a win over Eddie. If not, right there along the guys who are trying to get that interim fight, or get that title fight. We’ll see what happens with Conor (boxing Floyd Mayweather).”
Poirier believes he can finish Alvarez, but if it goes the distance he expects a “Fight of the Night” bonus.
“I think I’m going to touch him up and get him out of there. But if this fight goes 15 minutes, they can write the checks now if they want. If it goes 15 minutes, we’ll get ‘Fight of the Night.’ … Right now Eddie Alvarez is the goal – that’s my championship fight right now. After that, the cards will fall the way they will.”
