Dustin Poirier interested in boxing Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz

UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier says that he is interested in taking on Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz in a boxing match.

Poirier hasn’t fought since a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov last Septemeber at UFC 242 in a failed bid to win the UFC lightweight championship. The top-five ranked lightweight was scheduled to fight Dan Hooker at UFC San Diego, but that card fell apart due to the coronavirus pandemic. That leaves Poirier without a fight at the moment, and like other fighters, he’s anxious to get back in there and compete.

However, Poirier’s next fight may not necessarily be in the Octagon, but rather in a boxing ring. Speaking to Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com, Poirier admitted he likes the idea of boxing either McGregor or Diaz, whether that’s in a cage or in a ring.

“I’d love to box Nate Diaz or McGregor in the Octagon, or in the boxing ring,” Poirier said.

Poirier has, of course, already fought McGregor in the Octagon in an MMA match back at UFC 178 in September 2014. McGregor was able to quickly dispatch of Poirier that night via first-round TKO, but that was at featherweight, where Poirier struggled to maintain durability after cutting so much weight. At lightweight, Poirier is much better equipped to handle the heavy blows of his opponents, which could bode well for him in a McGregor rematch.

Poirier was also scheduled to fight Diaz back at UFC 230 in November 2018, but the fight fell apart, with both men accusing each other of pulling out of the fight ever since. Poirier has made it known quite often as of late that he would welcome a fight with Diaz, but the UFC has not been able to put it together as of yet. Perhaps if the UFC can book this fight, it could be a boxing match, instead.

UPDATE: Poirier later clarified that while he is interested in these matches, he’s not chasing them.

Crazy thing is I did a whole interview about other stuff and then they asked me if I'd be willing to fight Conor again, I answered and that's the headline they put out there for you guys to click on… I'm not chasing these fights. https://t.co/TihjsrINhs

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) April 15, 2020

Would you be interested in seeing Dustin Poirier box?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/15/2020.