"I'm a gambling man and I believe in my skills"- Dustin Poirier explains choosing the trilogy fight against Conor McGregor over a title shot
Dustin Poirier was offered a shot at the UFC lightweight title after his second-round TKO victory over Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 257. However, 'The Diamond' gave up the opportunity in exchange for a trilogy fight against Conor McGregor.
While several fans questioned his decision, Dustin Poirier recently revealed that it wasn't a hard one for him. In a recent interview with ESPN, Poirier said that he chose the trilogy fight, trusting himself to beat McGregor a second time and go for the title next. Explaining his choice, Dustin Poirier told Brett Okamoto of ESPN:
"I made that decision pretty easily. If I'm the best in the world then I'm gonna beat Conor and fight for the belt. Which is kind of like doubling down on yourself. You know, I'm a gambling man. And I believe in my skills in fighting. So I just doubled down. That's all it was."
Dustin Poirier chose the money fight
Dustin Poirier has been guaranteed a purse of $1 million for his trilogy fight against Conor McGregor, which could potentially reach $3 million depending on pay-per-view sales. In his last outing against McGregor at UFC 257, the Louisiana lad made $1,070,000 which was approximately three times the amount he received for his previous fight.
So it is hardly surprising that Dustin Poirier chose to fight McGregor for a third time over a title fight that could hardly have generated such huge revenues. Speaking as the provider for a wife and five-year-old kid, Dustin Poirer told Brett Okamoto:
"Me fighting for the belt, I wouldn't have got a pay-per-view. I would have got a base salary of...probably not even a third of my base salary for this fight. It just didn't make sense. You know, I'm a prizefighter. I don't wanna put the UFC on balst or put the numbers or the way we make deals, make it a big deal like that. Talking to you about it. Hopefully you guys don't spin it into that. You guys are asking questions, I'm giving answers. If I'm gonna make five, six, seven, ten times the money fighting Conor again. Like I said, I'm a husband and a father and I have priorities."