There’s been a lot of talk lately, but little action, with the top of the UFC’s lightweight division lately, and it looks like contender Dustin Poirier has had enough.
Since Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October, there’s been plenty of discussion about what’s next for the lightweight champ, and the other top fighters in the division. For example, Dana White has said he’s interested in seeing Tony Ferguson fight Khabib, and Poirier and Conor McGregor run it back.
The problem is, however, that we don’t know what type of disciplinary action Nurmagomedov and McGregor are going to receive from the Nevada Commission, as a result of the post-fight brawl at UFC 229. The expectation is that since Khabib jumped over the fence to get at Dillon Danis to kick-off the incident, he’s going to receive some sort of suspension. We probably won’t find out what kind of punishment the champ receives until January at the earliest.
Well, since Poirier hasn’t fought now since July, when he took out Eddie Alvarez, clearly he’s keen to get another fight booked. Recently he called for a fight with Ferguson, and while talking with MMA Junkie afterward, the frustrated Poirier had this to say:
“I know some of the stuff is out of the UFC’s hands,” said Poirier. “I’m not blaming the UFC. But just the whole picture. Let’s get this (expletive) going. I’m sick of this.”
“I want to fight Tony,” Poirier said. “And if it’s not Tony, good for Tony, he’s (expletive) more than earned his shot at Khabib. He’s definitely next in line for the world championship. He’s ahead of me. I agree.
“But if that’s not going to happen, let’s let the two best guys who are available go at it. Or let me and Conor go at it.”
You can understand Poirier’s frustration here, but unfortunately for him, he likely won’t hear more until Khabib and McGregor’s punishments are handed out. Unless, of course, Poirier’s willing to take a fight outside of the title shot mix, but that seems unlikely.