After the biggest win of his career, no one could argue that Dustin Poirier deserves to fight for the title, the only opponents that are top 5 that makes sense are Charles Oliveira or Michael Chandler since they coming off a win. Poirier thinks that he is the uncrowned champ since he just beat Conor McGregor and and only lost to Khabib who just retired.
“I am the uncrowned lightweight champ. If Khabib’s out, I am the best in the division. Former interim world champion, former title challenger. I just took out a two-division former world champion. I am the champ. I know that.”
When asked during his post fight interviews whether he thinks Chandler deserves to fight him for the vacant title, he said that it does not interest him. Chandler just beat Dan Hooker who was also beaten by Dustin Poirier a few months prior.
Dustin Poirier also said he is more interested in pursuing the McGregor trilogy or fighting Nate Diaz. Although it would not make sense for Poirier to fight Diaz as his next fight since he is already top 1 contender and to fight someone whose last fight at welterweight and lost would not be a good look in terms of rankings.
Him and Diaz were scheduled before for a fight but was canceled as Poirier pulled out of the fight due to injuries. It was supposedly the co-main event for the UFC 230 card at Madison Square Garden.
Although he had not indicated it yet, it is obvious that Poirier is more interested with either McGregor or Diaz since it gives him a higher fight purse than fighting for the belt. He already feels the uncrowned champ so who can blame him to chase the money rather than the belt.
Poirier gave props to Oliveira as he is on a long win streak, and thinks that Oliveira paid his dues.
“He’s earned where he’s at, no doubt about it. Let him and Chandler fight for the belt. If they want Chandler in there for the title, and he’s calling for the title, let them fight for the belt. I’ll take a step back and just watch.”
As of the moment, Poirier is just focused on enjoying his win against McGregor. He plans to have a vacation with his family to celebrate the biggest win of his career. Poirier has went through a lot and deserves the fruit of his labor.
