Dustin Poirier, Legend of the UFC, reveals that he wanted to fight Ilyia Topuria in his farewell fight

There are careers in mixed martial arts (MMA) that will be difficult to forget in the imaginary of fans. Fighters who, for their style inside the octagon, were and will be admired for decades. One of them is, without a doubt, Dustin Poirierthe interim ex -champion of the lightweight of the UFC; The man who managed to beat Conor McGregor twice. Lafayette’s is a real legend of this sport, with forty professional fighting, the vast majority within the UFC.

A few days ago, the American company announced that Dustin Poirier’s ‘last dance’ would take place in UFC 318, being The star fight with Max Holloway and disputing the BMF symbolic belt that the Hawaiian holds, in a duel that will be held in the light weight. Thus, all the rumors that pointed in that direction were confirmed, as the event will take place in the state of Louisiana, a place of origin of Poirier, specifically in the town of New Orleans. Farewell at home and for a title; big.

However, and although a trilogy with Holloway always has a huge attraction (he won on the two times Poirier, in UFC 143 in 2012 and in UFC 236 in 2019 for the interim title), the American has revealed that he had two other options that seduced him even more. «I asked Hunter Campbell (UFC business director) that I loved Justin Gaethjebecause we are 1-1 and wanted to close that trilogy. For some reason, this fight wanted a lot. It seems good to me, because I respect [Max] For my last fight, ”he explained in an interview with MMA Junkie.

But he also looked at the ex-champion of the Spanish-Georgian pen weight. «When Ilyia Topuria said she was going to climb at 155 pounds, I wrote to the UFC: ‘Hey, let me go to this guy’. But they never considered it, they told me that they were not going to happen and that they wanted Max, ”said Poirier, who wanted to face the legend in his farewell, something that the UFC did not establish within his plans, since Topuria already had verbally assured the fight for the lightweight title of the UFC. Surely, MMA fans will miss Dustin Poirier.