Dustin Poirier says negotiations for scrapped Nate Diaz fight were ‘a huge headache,’ but is willing to try again

UFC 230 was originally expected to be co-headlined by a lightweight contender bout between the streaking Dustin Poirier and the long-absent fan favorite Nate Diaz. Unfortunately, this fight fell apart after Poirier sustained an injury.

While it was an injury that ultimately nixed this incredible matchup, Dustin Poirier says the bout almost fizzled out numerous times during the initial negotiations. That, he says, is because Nate Diaz is incredibly “hard to deal with.”

“We don’t even have enough time to talk about all the times it was changed,” Poirier said recently on The MMA Hour (transcript via MMA Fighting). “The fight was on, it was off, it was just crazy, there was a lot of crazy stuff going on.”

According to Dustin Poirier, the Diaz side over-negotiated for the fight, changing their demands and stipulations multiple times.

“They wanted to switch it to five rounds, man, it was just so messed up dude,” he said. “Nate was being hard to deal with, I believe. Every weight class they offered it at 155 and he wanted 160 and I agreed to that. He kind of negotiated himself out of a main-event spot. They offered us the main event, I accepted, Nate over-negotiated, they lost the main event, it was just back-to-back days of him trying to have his way, honestly.”

While Dustin Poirier is disappointed that this Diaz fight fell through, he’s not as disappointed as some fans seem to think he should be. He reminds that he was not making any extra money for this fight, he simply saw it as a good opportunity.

“A lot of these fans are blowing me up on social media saying you blew an opportunity, your big payday and stuff like that, they don’t understand how contracts work,” he explained. “I don’t get PPV points to fight Nate Diaz. I don’t know what anyone thinks is going on here, but, I took this fight not because it was a big-money fight, but because it was a big opportunity. It’s a huge headache with all the stuff that he was playing.”

With this UFC 230 bout off the table, Dustin Poirier is ready to move on and do whatever it takes to prove what most already believe — that he deserves a lightweight title shot. To that end, he’s willing to accept a rescheduled bout with Nate Diaz, though he seems open to other options too.

“I have my eyes on everybody man, honestly,” Poirier said. “Like I said after my last fight, I want big fights, my goal is to be the world champion. So whatever fight makes sense. I felt like this Nate fight makes sense. If the UFC can get him to play ball, maybe we’ll do it, if not, we’ll see what shakes out, man and what’s next, but I need big fights.”

What do you think is next for Dustin Poirier?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/22/2018.