UFC News: Dana White’s Welterweight GOAT Eyes Dustin Poirier Despite Retirement Rumors After UFC 302

Even as he ultimately lost to Islam Makhachev at their UFC 302 title clash last week, Dustin Poirier had a remarkably good showing in the bout. Which is why, despite the loss, his stock has not gone down in the UFC world, as he gave the Dagestani champ a run for his money until being caught by him in a D’Arce choke in the fifth round.

While ‘Diamond’ did hint he was strongly considering retirement in his post-fight octagon interview with Joe Rogan, he was not so sure when asked at the press conference. One of the reasons he listed for continuing to fight was that he would be leaving a lot of money on the table since he has a lot of mouth-watering matchups still in the UFC. And one of them is possibly a fight against Dana White‘s pick for the welterweight GOAT, Kamaru Usman, who himself floated the possibility of a Poirier clash.

Kamaru Usman thinks a fight with Poirier would be ‘fun’

Until his shocking fifth-round knockout loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 278, Kamaru Usman looked unstoppable. Undefeated in the UFC up to that point in his fourteen fights, he went on to lose his rematch to ‘Rocky’, and lost a controversial majority decision to Khamzat Chimaev last year. And Usman is seemingly ready to fight again.

Speaking to co-host Henry Cejudo on their ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast, Usman spoke about the landscape for Poirier going forward after UFC 303. During which, following a lot of disclaimers, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ said that one of the potentially exciting opponents Poirier could face in the future was him.

“But he’s got fights… I’m not in any way throwing my hat in but if he wants to go up, hey that’s a fun fight. I’m not saying I’m welcoming the fight. Don’t do it. But I always put my mind there. If I was to compete against a guy like Dustin Poirier, that would be a fantastic one because its a guy I can really respect through and through the process,” Usman said.

Elaborating on the reasons a fight between him and Poirier made sense was because of the absolute warrior and legend ‘Diamond’ was. This doggedness on the part of the Lafayette native, Usman felt, would in turn motivate him and drive him to give it his all preparing for the dangerous and always-to-be-respected-in-the-octagon Poirier.

Usman-Poirier raises many questions

Continuing on this theme, the former 170-pound champ explained his mindset for a potential fight with Poirier using a metaphor. “Its like you and your main training partner and you’re just like ‘yeah we’re gonna beat each other up, we’re gonna push reach other to the brink.’ You know, that would be a fun fight,” he said.

Usman, ever the competitor and warrior himself, looked forward to being pushed ‘to the brink’ by the former interim champion, and felt a clash between them would be, if nothing else, a ‘fun fight’. However, there are some very important questions that need answering.

Poirier fights in the 155-pound lightweight division, while Usman has only fought in the 170-pound division, with his last fight at middleweight. So, would Poirier move up to 170, or will Usman cut weight and come down to 155 to fight Poirier?

In addition, questions about whether or not the UFC would agree to it, and even whether Poirier would agree to face Poirier also come up when discussing a potential Usman-Poirier clash. What are your thoughts on the matchup?