Dustin Poirer is at the end of his rope. ‘Diamond’, of course, is coming off a loss to champion Islam Makhachev at their UFC 302 in June, following which he virtually announced his retirement to an emotional Joe Rogan in the post-fight octagon interview. However, the lightweight superstar changed his tune after he sobered up during the post-fight media talk, where he spoke of the potential seven-figure paycheck he “would be leaving on the table” if he retired then.

Now, following a series of cryptic social media posts, Poirier seems to be hinting he’s coming back. And Michael Bisping thinks his rumored opponent is the perfect one for Poirier.

Bisping explains why a Covington-Poirier fight is the best matchup for ‘Diamond’

Speaking to MMA interviewer and journalist extraordinaire, Adam Cattrall, Michael Bisping read out Poirier’s recent posts hinting at a return to the octagon. The former middleweight champ felt that since ‘Diamond’ has himself admitted he doesn’t have it in him to work his way up the division to another title shot, his next fight would be to put it crudely, a money-grab.

“Dustin’s new update is that on his Instagram he posted ‘The game goes on.’ A day before he also posted a photo of himself saying ‘Big news coming’ so he is going to fight again, of course, from the man himself. He is going to have one last fight. It isn’t going to be anything relevant necessarily to the title picture at 155 because it doesn’t need to be,” he said.

The UFC commentator also speculated that this would be ‘Diamond’s last fight, although Poirier has neither confirmed nor denied it. There, of course, has been buzz that the former interim lightweight champ will face welterweight star Colby Covington on UFC 309 at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York. But since both men fight at different divisions and ‘Chaos’ is on a downward slope in his career, this potential matchup has been ridiculed by fans.

Regardless, Bisping feels, contrary to fans’ opinion, the UFC would not have any issues promoting the fight and it will indeed be a commercial success given the bad blood and animosity between the two men, which we will discuss more in-depth later. “If it’s going to be his last fight, him and Colby, there’s a lot of bad blood there. There’s a lot of beef, there’s a lot of meat on that bone if you’re a promoter. And for Colby Covington, he still wants to be a part of big fights. I don’t think he’s going to get tired anytime soon. Dustin Poirer-Colby Covington catchweight or 155, 170, who cares at Madison Square Garden coming up,” he added.

But what exactly is the ‘meat on the bone’ and ‘bad blood’ between the two men that Bisping is talking about? Time to find out!

Why do Dustin Poirier and Colby Covington hate each other?

Colby Covington blames Dustin Poirier for getting him kicked out of the vaunted American Top Team (ATT) gym, where he used to train until 2020. And that started a very real animosity between the two that still remains unresolved. ‘Chaos’ did what he does best and ridiculed Poirier after the latter lost to Charles Oliveira in 2021, claiming the  Louisianan had a “quitter’s mentality” and never worked hard in the gym. This predictably incensed ‘Diamond’, who promised he would never fight Covington in the octagon for money.

Instead, the UFC veteran claimed that he would fight ‘Chaos’ on the street even if it meant he would go to jail. Now, however, it does seem that the former interim lightweight champion has re-considered (if the rumors about a UFC 309 clash between the two are real). And why not? After all, Poirier should aim to make as much money as possible before he retires, and as Bisping pointed out, all the ingredients are there in a potential Poirier-Covington fight. What are your thoughts on Bisping’s take on a potential fight between the two superstars?