Beneil Dariush claims Dustin Poirier turned down two separate offers to fight: “I can’t force a man to fight me”

Beneil Dariush is claiming Dustin Poirier has turned him down on two separate offers to fight.

UFC Austin takes place tomorrow, Saturday, December 2nd and will headline Beneil Dariush (22-5 MMA) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (20-3 MMA) in the lightweight main event.

Dariush had 8 wins in a row before losing to Charles Oliveira (34-9 MMA) this past June at UFC 289.

Tsarukyan is sporting two wins in his last two fights coming into UFC Austin, defeating Damir Ismagulov (24-3 MMA) and Joaquim Silva (12-4 MMA) respectively.

Speaking with reporters at a UFC Austin pre-fight news conference on Wednesday, Beneil Dariush shared his attempts to get Dustin Poirier in the cage:

“I’ve seen interviews with Dustin, and he’s not really interested in fighting me. I don’t get him excited, I guess, the way he puts it. My understanding is when Jon Jones got hurt, they were hoping to boost (UFC 295) up with Dustin Poirier and myself, and they called him and he wasn’t interested.”

Continuing, the 34-year-old said:

“I believe they even tried for this date. This is what I was told. I’m not sure what he was told on his side, but they were also given the option to fight this date with me and he turned down both of them. That’s what I’ve been told.”

Concluding Beneil Dariush said (h/t MMAJunkie):

“I can’t force a man to fight me. The opportunity to fight a guy like Dustin Poirier would be amazing because of his skills and what he’s done in this sport, but I understand his legacy and he wants certain types of fights, and he’s done what he’s done in this sport. If he wants to pick his fights at this point, all the best.”

So, although Dariush would relish getting in the cage with Poirier, he’s not about to beg for a fight if Poirier isn’t interested.

Poirier (29-8 MMA), the former interim UFC lightweight champion, has 2 wins and 2 losses in his last four fights. Most recently ‘The Diamond’ was defeated by Justin Gaethje (25-4 MMA) in July at UFC 291.

Will you be watching UFC Austin? Do you think Beneil Dariush can beat Arman Tsarukyan?

Would you like to eventually see a Poirier vs. Dariush match-up?

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