An Ilia Topuria fight and dream lightweight scenario could delay Dustin Poirier's retirement, claims ex-UFC fighter: "Would stay at least for that"
Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson recently weighed in on Dustin Poirier's looming retirement. Thomson stated his belief that there are multiple scenarios that could keep 'The Diamond' from hanging up his gloves.
The 36-year-old last stepped in the cage at UFC 302 last year, where he faced Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title. The pair then went to war in a back-and-forth contest, which eventually saw Makhachev submit Poirier via D'Arce choke in the fifth round.
The Louisiana native has since confirmed he plans to fight one final time in the octagon before retiring, with his final bout expected to take place this summer in his home state.
According to Thomson, however, he believes there could be a few scenarios that could keep Poirier from calling it a day. Speaking on the latest episode of the WEIGHING IN podcast, 'The Punk' stated that he could see Poirier delaying his retirement if he was offered the chance of fighting Ilia Topuria in a title eliminator bout. He explained:
"I feel with Dustin [Poirier], he could do whatever he wants...I feel like there's something there right now. Islam [Makhachev] fights Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria fights Dustin. I would not be surprised if they dangled a little carrot in front of Dustin and say 'Hey, if you beat Topuria, you can fight Islam whenever you want'...I wouldn't be suprised, if you dangle that in front of Dustin, I think he would stay at least for that."
Check out Josh Thomson's comments about Dustin Poirier below (1:32:15):
Israel Adesanya praises Dustin Poirier while shutting down critics over championship status
Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya recently took to social media to defend Dustin Poirier, following questions over the lightweight veteran's championship status.
'The Diamond' is considered by many to be one of the greatest fighters never to have won an undisputed title in the UFC. Despite previously picking up the interim belt at UFC 236 against Max Holloway, Poirier has fallen short on all three occasions he has competed for undisputed gold.
Due to those losses, the Lousiana native has faced criticism from fans for never having won the title, which recently made Israel Adesanya come to his defense.
According to 'The Last Stylebender', he considers his own interim title win the same as any other, meaning Poirier should do the same. Adesanya wrote:
"Whenever I said UFC 243 was my first title defense, some get salty. I consider my 'Interim' title win a title win, any fight after that is considered a title defense and a unification. Two things can be true at the same time. @DustinPoirier and I won our belts on the same night! 'Undisputed' or not he was the champion, y’all can’t take that away from him. Head high my guy, let’s strive!"
Check out Israel Adesanya's tweet regarding Dustin Poirier below: