Dana White says Dustin Poirier turned down title shot to fight McGregor

UFC President revealed that UFC Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier was offered the title shot but he refused it and instead went for the Mcgregor Trilogy fight.

Many thought Poirier, ranked No. 1 in the UFC’s official lightweight rankings, would fight for the 155-pound title that recently was vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov. Instead, the UFC booked former Bellator champion Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira for UFC 262 on May 15.

Conor McGregor suffered the first-ever stoppage loss of his MMA career against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 257, which took place at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. Dustin Poirier knocked out Conor McGregor in the second round to avenge his loss to the Irishmen from their first fight which took place back in 2014 at UFC 178. Back then, McGregor had knocked out Poirier in the first round.

Poirier executed his game plan perfectly and invested in low calf kicks early in the fight and also managed to score a takedown early in the fight. While he also ate a couple of hard shots from McGregor early on, he ultimately the calf kicks caught up to the Irishmen and he got knocked out for the first time in his professional MMA career. While Dustin will have the edge going into the third fight, he said that the trilogy will be completely different from the second fight.

Dana White says Dustin Poirier refused to fight for the title

According to UFC President Dana White, Poirier was offered that opportunity, but he passed on the title shot in favor of a third fight against McGregor, whom he finished by second-round TKO back at UFC 257.

Dana White told me that Dustin Poirier was offered a shot at the lightweight title and decided to pursue the Conor McGregor rematch instead.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 25, 2021

“Dustin wants the rematch [with Conor McGregor],” White said during the UFC 260 pre-fight press conference on Thursday. “That’s smart. That’s what he should do. He should take the rematch, take that fight. It’s a big fight for him.

“Kid’s worked hard his whole life, his whole career to be in a position like this. That’s the fight you take. We’ve been in positions like this before with others who have made the mistake of not taking that fight, and [it was the] biggest mistake of their lives.”

While he may not have a chance to become champion just yet, Poirier will likely stand to receive a huge financial windfall from a trilogy against McGregor, especially after his performance in the rematch earlier this year.

Dana White also mentioned that the fight is most likely to take place in July 2021.

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