UFC veteran Dustin Poirier recently revealed to fans the one fight that would force him unretire and don the UFC gloves again.
Poirier retired from MMA in 2025 after UFC 318, where he lost a trilogy bout to Max Holloway for the BMF title. ‘The Diamond’ hung up the gloves in front of his home crowd as he wished for.
The Louisiana native, who now serves as a desk analyst for the UFC, has previously opined that he would come out of retirement only if it were for something purposeful and big, like an undisputed title fight.
Dustin Poirier held the interim 155-pound gold once and got a shot at the undisputed title thrice and the BMF title twice, but failed to win either of the two belts ever.
Dustin Poirier says he will come back to fight Justin Gaethje again
This past weekend, Poirier’s former rival Justin Gaethje grabbed the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 by putting on a dominant show against Paddy Pimblett. After the fight, popular MMA content creator Krazy Kevin posted his take on Instagram that, after grabbing the interim title for a second time, Justin Gaethje now has a better resume and more accomplishments than Dustin Poirier.
Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson left a comment on Kevin’s post, asking Poirier to come out of retirement and run it back with Justin Gaethje to settle the score, which is tied at 1-1.
“I wanna see @dustinpoirier come back for this fight to finish it up.”
Poirier replied to the request and stated:
“I’ll come back for that one.”
Check out Dustin Poirier’s comments below:
Thomson replied to Poirier’s comment, stating that fans would love to see a third fight between the two warriors:
“@dustinpoirier I know you would, and we’d all love to see it. 🤜🏽🤛🏽”
‘The Highlight’ and Poirier first locked horns in 2018, with ‘The Diamond’ earning a Round 4 TKO after hunting Gaethje down, unloading vicious combinations, and dropping a semi-conscious Gaethje, who refused to be knocked out.
The rivals met again at UFC 291 in 2023, where the BMF title was up for grabs. On fight night, Gaethje wasted no time in seeking revenge. In Round 2, he landed a devastating head-kick, which knocked out ‘The Diamond.’
Dustin Poirier has previously completed trilogies with both Max Holloway and Conor McGregor. Even in his retirement bout, despite the loss, ‘The Diamond’ proved that he can still compete at the highest level. Interestingly, ‘The Diamond’ also backed Justin Gaethje to win at UFC 324, and his prediction came true.
With the score currently tied at 1-1, fans want to see Gaethje and Poirier brawl again. However, a third fight is unlikely.
Gaethje is expected to face Ilia Topuria later this year in a title unification bout. Poirier, on the other hand, is currently not in the testing pool. The 37-year-old is enjoying his retirement and is jacked up, making the idea of coming to fight again very unlikely at the moment.
