Dustin Poirier is actively excited about the possibility of a third fight with Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje.
Back in July at UFC 291 Gaethje defeated Poirier with a head kick knockout in the second round of their battle for the BMF title. Previously, in 2018, Poirier was victorious by way of a fourth round knockout in the pair’s first meeting.
Given that each have a win over one another, and they are two of the most exciting fighters that the 155-pound division has ever seen, a rubber match to settle the score just makes sense. Poirier is hopeful that this bout could occur at the promotion’s milestone 300th event in April.
“I would take that, for sure,” Poirier said. “For sure, I would take that fight. (UFC) 300 would be a great card to do it on, but we will see. If I was in Justin’s shoes, if he’s guaranteed a title shot, you might not want to risk it. But, hey, this is fighting. People get antsy. We’ll see what happens, but I’m definitely open to that.”
“I’m keeping my weight low in case something happens. I’m super low right now. I’ve been like that for the last month. I don’t have any plans. If they call me with a name that’s exciting or makes sense, like the Gaethje thing, then that was one of those. I was kind of waiting for something fun. When they called me with that one, I was nervous.”
“What happened I thought could happen, so that made me excited. We’ll see. When they call with that name, then I’ll do it. I made my debut at UFC 125, Jan. 1, 2011. I’m not going to be here at UFC 400. I’m 34 years old. So, to make it on that UFC 300 card would be cool if I get the right opponent, an exciting fight. I could fight before then. Who knows?”
Following his July win over Poirier, Gaethje is anticipating getting a shot at the lightweight title in the near future. But, with the UFC planning to reschedule Islam Makhachev versus Charles Oliveira, Gaethje may have to wait for that opportunity, which means that the stars could align for him to meet Poirier at UFC 300.