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NEW YORK CITY, NY – NOVEMBER 12: L-R Dustin Poirier looks on during the UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022 in New York City, New York, United States. Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Louis Grasse / SPP PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxBRAxMEX Copyright: xLouisxGrassex/xSPPx spp-en-LoGr-lrg2211121091204_UFC281_MAIN
![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/imago1019157908h.jpg)
via Imago
NEW YORK CITY, NY – NOVEMBER 12: L-R Dustin Poirier looks on during the UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022 in New York City, New York, United States. Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages Louis Grasse / SPP PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxBRAxMEX Copyright: xLouisxGrassex/xSPPx spp-en-LoGr-lrg2211121091204_UFC281_MAIN
Dustin Poirier and the recent upheaval around the UFC 299 announcement became the week’s UFC highlight. Now, finally, the fighter has opened up about it, at least to some extent. While Poirier maintained that it was all due to some miscommunication, he also revealed something far more interesting to Ariel Helwani.
How is this as an idea? Dustin Poirier goes up against Benoit Saint-Denis for the main event of UFC 300. Sounds good right? Well ‘The Diamond’ feels the exact same way. However, for some reason, this matchup was booked for UFC 299 instead. Here’s more.
Dustin Poirier believes his next matchup is headliner material
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Dustin Poirier was on the lineup of fighters interviewed by Ariel Helwani on the most recent episode of The MMA Hour Show. Here, the journalist asked Poirier the question of the hour. What happened with the confusion around his next bout? Poirier first told the world that his fight was off and hours later he retracted his statement.
He notified everyone that his fight was still on and that he’d gotten the wind that it wasn’t because of some communication error. Meanwhile, Dana White beefed with an MMA journalist who reported that Benoit Saint-Denis wasn’t even aware of the bout before its announcement. So all in all, it was an interesting week. Now, Poirier has made it even more interesting.
“They offered me this fight for 300,” Poirier told Helwani. “. . . I was talking with Hunter, and we were like the opening of the pay-per-view, maybe the second fight of the pay-per-view. And then, 299, we started talking about to be the co-main event. I’m like that’s a much bigger slot. It’s close to my training camp, it’s close to home. . . I wanted to be part of 300 but this just made more sense I think.”
🚨| Dustin Poirier has told @arielhelwani that the Benoit Saint-Denis fight was also offered for #UFC300 potentially as the main card opener.
Poirier eventually opted for the #UFC299 co-main event as he thought it was potentially a bigger spotlight and more importantly it… pic.twitter.com/Yh3xsNQUPI
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) February 5, 2024
‘The Diamond’ headlining UFC 300 would have certainly made for an interesting matchup. However, was it really possible? Main event matches are usually title fights with a lot of hype building behind them. The co-main event of UFC 300 is already a strawweight fight between Weili Zhang and Yan Xiaonan. Would it have been fair for a non-title fight to be the main event then? Here’s how fans feel about the revelation.
UFC fans react to Poirier’s update
Dustin Poirier has been a fan favorite for a very long time now. So of course fans would have loved seeing him at potentially the biggest pay-per-view of this year. However, this time around, they were just too consumed by shock to fully come to grips with the situation around ‘The Diamond’. Here are some of the best reactions.
Main card opener? Wtf is that disrespect to DP….
— Chad #PochOut (@WinstanleyFan) February 5, 2024
While some fans felt the proposal was disrespectful, others believed Poirier wanted to be on the same card as the bantamweight champion himself.
even poirier knows o'malley is a damn star ⭐👏
— rocky ★ (@Kolioko_) February 5, 2024
Meanwhile, others felt that Poirier was actually hiding something.
dustin capping HARD , he asked for 300 and didn’t like his position , so he wants to inflate his own star power
— 155lbs charles (@notAweightBully) February 5, 2024
Yet others believed that the star’s estimate for picking UFC 299 was questionable.
On a O'Malley card… very debatable.. on 300 you're still being viewed by likely more people being that you're still on the main card..
— Mike (@jonesyc55) February 5, 2024
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Some fans had already made their choice about the pay-per-views.
If I had to choose, I would watch UFC 299 instead of 300. Better matchups. Even if they get Conor.
— RB (@ThisIsTh3Start) February 6, 2024
This fan felt that a title shot for the winner of this bout is only a reasonable ask.
Winner of Benoit/Poirier should get a TS if Charles/Arman/Gaethje aren't available.
— John Smith (@smith_john95500) February 6, 2024
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Finally, Poirier had this fan’s approval.
That’s probably smart on his part
— High Ground (@Highgroundvader) February 6, 2024
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UFC 299 or 300, it looks like Dustin Poirier has made his decision and will be sticking to it. No amount of miscommunication can stall the fight now hopefully. Meanwhile, head honcho Dana White has still kept his quiet regarding the UFC 300 main event. Now that a Poirier fight has been ruled out, who will really headline the pay-per-view in April? What are your guesses? Let us know in the comments.