Dustin Poirier knows he’s done enough to fight for a title.
On Saturday night in Calgary, Poirier dispatched his second former UFC lightweight champion in his past three fights as he dished out as savage beat down of Eddie Alvarez in the main event on FOX.
Alvarez is the latest addition to Poirier’s growing resume, which also includes former UFC champion Anthony Pettis as well as former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje in his past three fights.
On paper, Poirier’s win streak where he’s gone 8-1 with one no contest as a lightweight including six of those fights ending by way of knockout or TKO should be more than adequate to earn a shot at the UFC lightweight title.
Unfortunately for Poirier his win streak comes at a time of turmoil in the division as champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is awaiting a showdown with Conor McGregor later this year.
With Nurmagomedov and McGregor almost certainly facing off, that leaves Poirier in limbo with a decision to make — sit and wait or fight another top contender?
One name that came up on Saturday night following his win was former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, who is storming the comeback trail after having knee surgery in April. UFC president Dana White says that he would like to book Ferguson on the same card as Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor but is that a fight that Poirier would consider taking?
“It’s too soon to tell,” Poirier responded when posed with a potential fight against Ferguson. “If Dana [White] calls me and we make a deal for the fight, maybe. I don’t know. I’m the best in the world. I can beat all these guys.”
“If Dana [White] calls me and we make a deal for the fight, maybe,” ~ Dustin Poirier on fighting Tony Ferguson
A showdown between Ferguson and Poirier does seem to make sense on paper but then again having the two ferocious lightweight contenders facing off would eliminate one of them from title contention when the UFC could legitimately make cases for each of them to fight for the belt.
At this point it’s unknown what will happen next but Poirier says he’s definitely going to stay in shape after his latest win as he continues his hunt for UFC gold.
“I don’t plan on getting crazy out of shape or anything like that,” Poirier said. “I’m going to get back to the gym, work on some stuff. I have a bunch of buddies fighting in a couple months back in Louisiana and I want to help them get ready. So I’ll be around. But in a perfect world, which this is not, I would have a full camp and have a fair shake at a title fight.”
Would you like to see Dustin Poirier take on Tony Ferguson next? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
