"Trying to eradicate those demons" - Michael Bisping on why he believes Dustin Poirier is pursuing Nate Diaz fight
Michael Bisping believes Dustin Poirier is pursuing a fight against Nate Diaz to "eradicate the demons" stemming from his latest defeat. Poirier recently spoke to Teddy Atlas and suggested that he’s likely to fight Diaz next on just six weeks’ notice.
During a live stream on his YouTube channel, Michael Bisping weighed in on a potential Poirier-Diaz matchup and stated:
“For Dustin Poirier, going up against Nate Diaz, I think for him that’s just him trying to eradicate those demons – Trying to get that bad taste out of his mouth from just losing the world title fight. We all know that Dustin Poirier, the desire to be champion is something that burns very brightly. He lost to Charles Oliveira. So, therefore, now he thinks, ‘If I go in there and I beat Nate Diaz, I’m back in the win column.’"
Bisping continued and compared his situation in fighting Kelvin Gastelum to Poirier's attempts to fight Diaz.
"Because I spoke to Dustin for BT Sport prior to his fight [against Oliveira]. And he said if he won, he was gonna slow down his schedule of fighting. Because you can’t do three, four fights a year forever. It does take a massive toll on your body. But he never became the champion. And now, in his mind, he’s probably a little bit depressed just like I was when I fought Kelvin [Gastelum]; when I lost to Georges St-Pierre.”
Michael Bisping recalled losing his UFC middleweight title via third round submission against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 on November 4th, 2017.
He admitted to feeling depressed after losing a high-profile title fight and then agreed to face Kelvin Gastelum on short notice at UFC Fight Night 122 on November 25th, 2017. Bisping lost the fight via first round KO.
‘The Count’ explained that there’s also a “monetary motivation” to taking short notice bouts, but hopes Dustin Poirier is pursuing the Nate Diaz fight “for the right reasons”.
Watch Michael Bisping address the Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz matchup in the video below:
The long running feud between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz
The Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz rivalry can be traced back to 2018. ‘The Diamond’ was scheduled to face Diaz in a lightweight bout at UFC 230 in November 2018. However, in October, Poirier withdrew from the fight due to a hip injury.
Nate Diaz alleged that Dustin Poirier was afraid of him, which is why he pulled out of their fight. Both fighters have taken multiple jibes at one another since.
Since Poirier’s loss to UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 on December 11th, 2021, 'The Diamond' and Diaz have been hinting at possibly fighting.
The Diaz-Poirier matchup hasn’t been officially announced yet by the UFC.