Though Charles Oliveira holds the UFC lightweight title, many fans see Dustin Poirier as the uncrowned champion of the division.
Dustin Poirier has fought some of the toughest opponents in the UFC lightweight division such as Justin Gaethje, Khabib Nurmgaomedov, Conor McGregor, Dan Hooker, Max Holloway, and Eddie Alvarez.
And except Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dustin Poirier was able to beat every other lightweight he has faced in the last few years.
Well, The Diamond won’t have to wait for long to get an opportunity to become the undisputed UFC lightweight title. However, what’s next for him after that?
UFC can possibly book a fourth fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. But, Poirier has an alternative route to cement his legacy in the world of MMA.
Dustin Poirier aims to move upto welterweight division
Dustin Poirier recently said that he is open to moving up to the welterweight division and fight the champion, Kamaru Usman. In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, when asked whether he would move up to 170 after winning the UFC lightweight title, Dustin Poirier stated:
“Of course, I would. Those are some big guys. But we will see, I definitely think I can fight at 170. Honestly, at 155, my metabolism kind of caught up. When I was cutting to 145 between fights I would get a lot heavier than I do now. I would shoot up to 190 when I was fighting at 145. Now I don’t get past 182 is kind of the max I walk around at.”
So far, Dustin Poirier has not faced any issue making weight for the lightweight division. However, he is not a small guy in the division and can have success if he moves up.
However, it’s not certain that The Diamond is going to fight Kamaru Usman when he moves up. The Nigerian Nightmare takes on Colby Covington in his next title defense.
And if Covington wins the fight then that matchup would make even more sense to Poirier. There is certainly a rivalry between the former American Top Team teammates. And Covington has even called out Poirier multiple times for a showdown inside the octagon.
However, Poirier has a huge task ahead of him next in Charles Oliveira. And the outcome of that fight will certainly decide what Poirier does next in his MMA career.