Dustin Poirier admits he expected to be offered a “legacy” type of fight next, not Benoit Saint-Denis

Dustin Poirier admits he was surprised when he got offered to fight Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299.

After Poirier was knocked out by Justin Gaethje in a fight for the promotion’s BMF belt, ‘The Diamond’ wasn’t sure what would be next for him. He said he needed a fight that would get him out of bed in the morning, and he thought Rafael dos Anjos or another former champion made sense.

“I was surprised, I thought it was going to be a more well-known fighter, cause in my head, maybe a legacy fight, maybe RDA, maybe a former champion,” Dustin Poirier said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t know, just something, I thought the offer that I would get from the UFC would be more like that. But, like you said, I needed something to get me up in the morning, and I respect this sport, and I honor this sport. I’m 35 years old now, this guy’s a young, hungry lion who’s on a streak, I think he’s finished five fights in a row. Somebody gave me my shot to crack in, so I respect the game and that is what I’m doing. March 9, buy the pay-per-view, let’s find out. You know the meme with the dog looking in the mirror, me checking to see if I still have that dog in me. Five rounds, March 9.”

The fight coming together was a bit of a surprise, but it is a scrap that many fans are eagerly looking forward to. But, as Dustin Poirier says, he wanted to give someone else a chance to crack into the top five, just like someone gave him the chance years ago.

Heading into the fight, Poirier is the betting underdog as he’s +114 while Benoit Saint-Denis is -135. At +114, oddsmakers imply Poirier has a 46.7% chance of winning the bout.

Dustin Poirier (29-8 and one No Contest) is coming off the knockout loss to Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt. Before that, he scored a submission win over Michael Chandler after suffering a submission loss to Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title. In his career, he holds notable wins over Conor McGregor, twice, Dan Hooker, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, and Eddie Alvarez.