Dustin Poirier outlines his strategy to reclaim BMF title through new UFC "tournament" featuring top stars
Former UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has some wild plans for the final stretch of his legendary career. In a recently concluded interview with MMA on Sirius XM, 'The Diamond' talked about a few important things in the immediate future of his UFC run.
MMA media personality RJ Clifford outlined Poirier's interview on X, saying:
"Highlights from Dustin Poirier on @MMAonSiriusXM: Getting reconstructive nose surgery. Out 8 weeks. Lafayette talked about but unlikely. New Orleans a real possibility late 2025. Opponents have been proposed but nothing he can discuss. Has 5-6 more fights in him but won't put his body thru that. 6-7 more fights left on his UFC contract. Wants to do a one night, four man BMF tournament with [Justin] Gaethje, Max [Holloway] and [Dan] Hooker"
Perhaps the part that raises the most eyebrows here is the four-man, one-night tournament involving Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, and Dan Hooker for the ceremonial UFC BMF belt. An interesting note is that all men involved in this proposed bracket were men Poirier faced and beat in the past. This means he'd know how to get his hand raised against all of them if ever this tournament does happen.
Dustin Poirier teased a possible trilogy bout against Justin Gaethje
This tournament-style one-night battle for the BMF belt is quite unlikely since the UFC hasn't done an event of such format since the 90s. While this is unlikely to happen, one of the proposed men in the tournament has a high chance of facing Poirier next - they just need to sign the dotted line.
Former interim UFC lightweight champ Justin Gaethje is currently 1-1 with Dustin Poirier, with each man scoring KOs on the other. The two first met in a Fight of the Year-winning bout in 2018, in which Poirer won via TKO in the fourth round. The two met again in 2023 for the BMF belt, which Gaethje avenged his loss with a KO of his own, courtesy of a well-timed head kick.
Poirier posted a cryptic tweet suggesting a third dance with 'The Highlight' and said:
"Trilogy?"
Gaethje hasn't responded to this tweet yet. He last appeared at UFC 300 in April and suffered a KO loss to Max Holloway. If and when this fight gets booked, it can easily headline any card and sell out any arena.