Dustin Poirier is still coming to terms with the disappointment of his head kick KO loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 this past weekend, but it sounds like he isn’t planning to head into retirement yet.
“I still feel great and I can compete with all these guys,” Poirier said on The MMA Hour. “I still love the sport, and I hate it too, so I just deal with it. Every day is different. It’s like a roller-coaster of emotions. I love it and I hate it. It’s given me everything that I have, but it’s also taken away so much time. I have to be so selfish in what I do. I miss so many birthdays. And I’m not complaining, because it’s given me everything that I have, but to be at the highest level, for me anyway, I have to be so selfish and so focused and lock myself away, so I miss a lot of time.
“But I’m Mr. Bounce Back. I’ve never lost two fights in a row in 47 fights. I don’t think I can walk away on a loss.”
However, the 34-year-old Poirier also made it clear that he doesn’t intend to be the gatekeeper for the next generation of lightweight stars, and instead wants to bide his time and take fights that have significance for him at this stage in his career.
“Like I said in the press conference, I’m not better than these guys, but I’ve been doing this s*** too long. I don’t want to fight a new guy in the UFC or something like that. It has to mean something to me. Otherwise I’m just fighting to fight. I’ve done that my whole life. I got ahead doing that. I put myself in a great position. It has to mean something. This meant something. This was a legacy fight. That’s what really hurts.”
Poirier doesn’t appear to have any particular opponent in mind for his next Octagon outing, though when asked he did entertain the idea of fighting Nate Diaz if he returns to the UFC after his boxing match with Jake Paul this weekend.
“He can’t get his leg high, right? Like a high kick or nothing? Alright, I’ll take that fight,” Poirier quipped. “Let’s f****** go. I’m not chasing it. It’s funny because you’re the third person in the last week to bring his name up and he’s not even in the organization. That would be a good one.”
