Dustin Poirier (left) and Conor McGregor (right) square off at UFC 178 media day in September 2014.
Dustin Poirier calls Conor McGregor ‘biggest draw in combat sports,’ announces new 8 fight contract with the UFC
Dustin Poirier is getting ready for one of the biggest fights of his career, and certainly one of the biggest fights of the year. He will be heading to Abu Dhabi to face the former champion, Conor McGregor, as the headliner of the UFC 257 event on Jan. 23. In the lead-up to this fight, Poirier sat down with comedian Theo Von to talk a little bit about the fight. In this conversation, Poirier stated that he feels McGregor is the biggest draw in combat sports right now.
“It’s the biggest fight beside the title fight in mixed martial arts you can get, a fight with Conor McGregor,” Poirier explained. “Maybe even combat sports, if Mayweather is retired or what’s going on. Those two guys right now in combat sports are probably the biggest opponents that you can be standing across the battlefield from. So to get a fight of that magnitude I was excited when it came together. I know what it brings, a win over Conor brings a lot more exposure and it brings a title shot.”
Poirier has held an interim UFC title but he is hoping that this fight against McGregor will send him one step closer to the actual lightweight title. Poirier came to the UFC back in 2011 and has racked up 18 wins in that time. He isn’t close to closing up shop either as he reveals he has recently signed a contract extension.
“I just signed an eight-fight contract with the UFC,” Poirier said. “My plan is to fight eight more times. I want to finish this contract I’m on, eight fights, eight more times and then we’ll see where we’re at there. I’m not looking past that.”
It seems that lightweight may not be the home for Poirier for the rest of his UFC tenure, he explained that making that 155-pound limit is getting more difficult with age and that welterweight might be in his future.
“I definitely think I will fight at 170 in the UFC, I don’t know how many times,” Poirier said. “I have fought at 170 in my career before but never in the UFC. I will fight 170 before these eight fights run out.”
However, if Dustin Poirier does get the win over Conor McGregor and does win that lightweight title, he is sure to make a run at defending for as long as he can. The run to the gold begins on Jan. 23 on Fight Island.
