Michael Bisping urges Dustin Poirier to fight Charles Oliveira, not Nate Diaz: “Keep your eye on the prize baby boy”

Michael Bisping urged Dustin Poirier to fight Charles Oliveira and not Nate Diaz, telling him to “keep your eye on the prize baby boy.”

Poirier is currently the No. 1 contender in the UFC lightweight division and is next in line to fight the champion, Charles Oliveira, hopefully at the end of the year. However, “The Diamond” has recently been going back-and-forth with Diaz on social media, leading to speculation that he could be pursuing a fight with the Stockton native instead. However, if you ask Bisping, Poirier would be making a mistake if he chooses to fight Diaz next instead.

Speaking on the “Believe You Me” podcast, Bisping explained why Poirier should be focusing his concentration on Oliveira right now. As far as Bisping goes, there are no guarantees in this sport, and so if Poirier is offered the title shot, he should take it.

“Keep your eye on the prize baby boy. Listen, a fight with Nate Diaz is gonna generate big money. Yes, it probably would be good for his legacy, good for his brand. Good for when he’s retired and people look at his resume and they go, ‘Oh, there’s a Nate Diaz victory as well.’ But do all that after you’ve beat Charles Oliveira,” Bisping said (h/t MMA News).

“Anything can go wrong in this world, especially in the fight game. You might get injured in the training camp. You might fight Nate Diaz, even if you beat him you might come out of that with a really bad injury that’s gonna affect you down the line. Might affect you winning the world championship. The highest prize, the best accolade to have, is the world championship.”

Do you agree with Michael Bisping that Dustin Poirier should be chasing the UFC lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira and not a non-title fight with Nate Diaz?