Dustin Poirier is adamant that he only has one fight left, and he wants it to be special.
Last summer, Poirier fell short in his attempt to claim the UFC lightweight title, getting submitted by Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. After the loss, Poirier teased retirement but later walked that back, saying he wanted at least one more fight to go out on. And that’s still the plan for “The Diamond.”
“I’m still thinking about it, and me and the UFC, for the past couple of months, have been working on it,” Poirier told Jim Rome on Friday. “I came up to them with the idea that I would love to lay the gloves down where I picked them up, in Louisiana. The UFC hasn’t been here in 10 or 11 years, so to bring the organization, bring the UFC back to the state of Louisiana and retire here it means a lot to me, and I do think it could happen. I think we’re getting close. Nothing is for sure yet, but this summer is likely, I would say. ...
“I’ve been in the UFC so long and done so much with them, I personally thought when I brought this idea to them, since they haven’t been here in so long, that they would kind of brush it aside. But they entertained it, and I was so excited when they called me back and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get in touch with Louisiana, get in touch with New Orleans, and make something happen.’”
The UFC has not been to Louisiana since 2015, a Fight Night event headlined by a middleweight bout between Dan Henderson and Tim Boetsch.
As for who Poirier may face in his final bout, that’s still up in the air. The former interim lightweight champion said when he first pitched the idea to the powers that be, he was hoping for a trilogy bout against Justin Gaethje, however, that plan went up in smoke when Gaethje booked a fight against Dan Hooker at UFC 313 next month.
“My first pick when we first started talking about a retirement in Louisiana was Justin Gaethje because we’re 1-1,” Poirier said. “I beat him, he beat me. I would hate to close my career out without finishing this thing off right. But when I brought it to there attention, he already had a fight booked in March, I believe, against Dan Hooker. Which is an incredible fight. I’m a big fan of both guys, and that’s going to be a war that you cannot miss.
“But we’ll see. We’ve got some names we’re working on.”
One possibility that’s been increasingly thrown out from fans is rising lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett. But Poirier shot that down quickly.
“That’s an interesting fight, but not for my retirement fight,” Poirier said when asked about Pimblett. “It’s legends only, man.
And Poirier also says there’s no chance he takes a Pimblett fight for fun before ending his career in “The Big Easy” as planned. “The Diamond” is set on making the walk only one final time.
“I’m done,” Poirier said. “I have 50-something cage fights. Like I said, I still have more to give. There’s a lot of opportunities and big fights that can be made, but I’ve just been doing it so long, and I’m in a place with my other ventures and my family. I want to be home in a regular routine. I’ve given this sport a lot, and I think I’ve given it enough.”
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