Justin Gaethje‘s first clash against Dustin Poirer on their Fight Night clash back in 2018 remains one of the greatest bouts in the history of not just the UFC but the entire sport. Gaethje, fresh off his ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ finale win, was a fan favorite, even though Poirier emerged victorious. Regardless, he was not as fortunate in the rematch last year.

Given the electrifying nature of their first fight and the excitement around the rematch, the UFC, in an attempt to raise the stakes for the fight, resurrected the BMF title, which hadn’t been a thing since Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz had fought for it back in 2019.

And while Gaethje caught ‘Diamond’ with a spectacular head-kick to win the bout and the BMF title, he lost it to Max Holloway at their UFC 300 epic clash, which will go down in history as one of the best. Unfortunately, ‘The Human Highlight’ got knocked out cold (for the first time in his career, even though he has lost a couple of bouts via Technical Ko before).

Gaethje, being the smart guy that he is, announced he would be on a six-month break from fighting to let his brain recover and mitigate as much as he could against CTE. And now, with a month remaining in his hiatus, fans were curious whom he would fight next. And the 35-year-old has indeed named a few fighters including Dustin Poirier (along with Dan Hooker, Alexander Volkanovski, and Charles Oliveira) as potential opponents, to fans’ delight.

And ‘Diamond’, coming off a loss to champ Islam Makhachev earlier this year is ready as always to go to war. The New Orleans native took to social media and has confirmed that he is ready and willing to slug it out with ‘The Human Highlight’ for a third time.

“You know I’m down,” Poirier tweeted in response to Gaethje, confirming he will be back, and has not retired, something the former interim champ had hinted at in the post-fight octagon interview after the UFC 302 Makhachev loss.

Either way, it does seem the veteran is close to calling it quits if the rumors going around are true, even if Poirier has neither denied nor confirmed this. But based on what one of his teammates has revealed, there is a strong chance that he might be targeting Gaethje not just as his next opponent, but also as his final one.

Why Dustin Poirier could want Justin Gaethje as his last opponent

As we have mentioned Dustin Poirier is at the end of his MMA competitive career. And why not? After all, the 35-year-old has been in the UFC for thirteen years during which time he has made thirty-one appearances in the octagon. So it could be so that his next fight may very well be his final one. And that does explain why the fans are so interested in whom ‘Diamond’ will face next.

Earlier this month, there were even rumors recently that the UFC may be looking to match up ‘Diamond’ against another aging superstar who seems at the end of his rope- welterweight star Colby Covington. Of course, these rumors were met with widespread outrage and disbelief from fans.

Nevertheless, Poirier’s ATT teammate and friend, Grant Dawson, confirmed in a recent interview that Poirier indeed shares the fans’ sentiment on this potential matchup. In fact, ‘KGD’ claimed that he had asked the former interim champ if he would be interested in fighting ‘Chaos’, to which Poirier had replied with an unambiguous and strongly worded ‘no.’

Naturally, Dawson asked Poirier the logical next question: If not Covington, then who? And ‘Diamond’ had just one name- Gaethje. Which does make a lot of sense! Their two previous scintillating bouts, after all, were what Dana White’s dreams are made of. A trilogy between the two would almost definitely be a blockbuster bout (especially if it is Poirier’s last).

In addition, both men have unfinished business. Each of them is sitting on one win apiece against the other, and fans will be more than willing to pay to see the conclusion to their rivalry. What are your thoughts on ‘Diamond’ and ‘The Human Highlight’ facing each other for a third time?