Dustin Poirier: Conor McGregor Should Fight Me, Not Donald Cerrone
Dustin Poirier believes it makes more sense for Conor McGregor to face him in his comeback rather than Donald Cerrone.
Poirier hasn’t competed since his submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in their lightweight title fight in September. “The Diamond” has since undergone hip surgery and is now targeting a comeback in 2020.
He has teased a number of potential opponents. However, he requires his next opponent to be someone that excites him:
“When they offer me a name that gets me excited then that will be the right one,” Poirier told MMA Fighting. “A Conor [McGregor], a Nate Diaz, a Khabib [Nurmagomedov], a Tony [Ferguson], those kinds of guys get me excited.
“I just want fights like that. Fights that get me excited. Fights that are going to be exciting.”
Another fighter planning a comeback is McGregor. He previously claimed he would return on the January 18 card with his opponent expected to be Cerrone. However, things remain uncertain with not much movement on that front.
Regardless, Poirier believes it makes for sense for him to face McGregor, especially if the latter wants to reign over the division again.
“I respect ‘Cowboy’ and everything he’s done but I do think he’s on the back end of his career,” Poirier explained. “It’s ‘Cowboy,’ he can show up and submit or knock out Conor as well. I’m not counting the guy completely out but I do think that is a more favorable fight for him on his return. Fight a guy who’s been KO’d or TKO’d twice in his past two fights. I’m not a matchmaker. I think me and [Conor] makes more sense.
“I think it would make more sense [to fight me] if he’s [McGregor] trying to get back to the top. I was the former interim world champion. Conor’s the former undisputed world champion. We fought years ago, we both had our separate paths and we’ve both done great things. I think this makes a lot of sense. I’m No. 2, I think he’s No. 3. It makes a lot of sense. I think the fans want to see it as well but time will tell. I definitely want that fight, and it’s something I want to do.”
Do you agree with Poirier?
