Dustin Poirier stated that his next UFC battle will be against Conor McGregor , and the recently announced matchup has other fighters in the league throwing shade at the two contenders. Poirier said that he offered the match to McGregor recently, but an official date has yet to be confirmed due to contracts being figured out, according to a report from ESPN .
The lightweight contender felt quite confident that the brawl would happen sometime soon and remarked he is open to competing in either 2020 or in 2021.
“I think the Conor fight comes together, I really do. I believe I would have a contract right now if Conor said he would fight in 2021. He wants to fight in 2020,” Poirier said to ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani in a podcast on Wednesday.
The two initially agreed to compete to raise money for charity, according to Low Kick MMA . However, the UFC declared that contracts needed to be signed to make it official. McGregor stated on Twitter that the reason he confirmed a match with Poirier was to be better prepared for an upcoming boxing match against the legendary Manny Pacquiao, due to the fact that they are both left-handed fighters.
“It’s not easy going between both sports and then coming back to the one sport again. Just want to keep sharp guys, that’s all. It’s only fair,” the Irishman tweeted .
The UFC is said to have offered the two a date of January 23 to compete. However, McGregor wants to push the date up to either November 21 or December 12. Poirier stated he is open to any time. After the league announced the matchup between the two well-respected athletes, Nate Diaz took to Twitter — as seen here — to take a shot at the lineup, stating it was not a legit battle because the two fighters are friends.
Diaz and McGregor have fought each other twice before, each recording a win, according to a report from MMA News . He was also scheduled to compete against Poirier, but he had an injury and was forced to pull out. Diaz claimed that he considered the forfeit a victory in his mind.
“You can’t make it, you can’t cut it. Straight up, that’s a L,” he said in an interview last year.
The beef continued on Twitter — seen here — after Diaz said he was looking for a competition in the 165 pound weight-class.
“I’ll whip you there too,” Poirier tweeted in response.
After Diaz called Poirier and McGregor “fake a** fighters” on Twitter , Khamzat Chimaev threw shade while he challenged him to a brawl on December 19.