
Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier was close to fight at UFC 279 in September. Photo: Sarah Stier – USA TODAY Sports and Jeff Bottari / Handout Photo via USA TODAY Sports
On November 12, Dustin Poirier will take on the tough Michael Chandler at UFC 281 in New York. However, in a recent interview with Heavy Sports, the top ranked lightweight revealed how close he actually was to fight Nate Diaz at
The ”Diamond” was totally surprised when the UFC called him up, but nonetheless ready to step in on short notice.
“It was surprising,” Poirier said. “My coach Mike Brown just flew into Louisiana the night before, and it was his birthday. So, I ate some pasta, so I was a little bit heavy the morning they called. Then they offered me the fight and I accepted it. They had to go through hurdles with the athletic commission to try to make this thing happen, for me to fly over same day.”
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Dustin Poirier: ”They were very thankful”
However, in the end, the promotion decided to go with Tony Ferguson as Diaz’s opponent.
“Luckily for me, I have some friends who have the ability to — and pilots — get me to Vegas on very short-notice time, so I had that set up. Everything was good to go. But I think it ultimately came down to the athletic commission. Tony had already weighed in and they wanted to go that way instead. But I did accept, and I did speak to the UFC, and they were very thankful,” Dustin Poirier said.
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