After thrilling defeat of Anthony Pettis, there’s one thing Dustin Poirier wants

On Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s action packed visit to Norfolk, Virginia, lightweight contenders Anthony Pettis and Dustin Poirier stepped into the Octagon for a fight that was widely expected to produce fireworks. When the cage door locked, the fight delivered.

For two and a half rounds, Pettis and Poirier thrilled onlookers, swapping heavy artillery and submission attempts and painting the Octagon red with their blood. Ultimately, however, Poirier earned himself a TKO win, slapping a tight body triangle onto his foe, whose midsection seemed to be injured.

Shortly after this win, the surging Poirier made it clear what he wants next: a rematch with former champion Eddie Alvarez, who he battled to a controversial no contest back at UFC 211 in May. Alvarez will battle Justin Gaethje at UFC 218 on December 2, and in Poirier’s opinion, their rematch should be next on the itinerary.

“I hope Eddie wins, so we can build this up to what it should be,” Dustin Poirier told MMAjunkie after his defeat of Anthony Pettis. “I should have [had] an automatic rematch. He shouldn’t have been rewarded with a TV show and more publicity and another big fight against another ranked guy.”

“He cheated and got out of a fight that he was losing, and he should have been forced to run it back with me.”

“I’m the guy who got robbed in that fight,” Poirier said, referencing the inadvertent fouls from Alvarez that forced the end of their May scrap. “[Alvarez] got rewarded.”

Needless to say, Poirier feels he’s owed this fight – and he expects to get it.

“100 percent,” he said. “I mean, I’ve earned it. I don’t deserve it. I’m not begging for it. I’ve earned it, and then we move on.”

Do you want to see a do-over between Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 12/11/2017.