Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev have seemingly agreed to a June 2024 title fight.
Dustin Poirier (30-8 MMA) is flying high after knocking out Benoit Saint-Denis (13-2 MMA) this past Saturday night at UFC 299 in the ‘Sunshine State’ of Florida.
‘The Diamond’, at 35, rebounded from his loss to Justin Gaethje (25-4 MMA) in July of last year at UFC 291 with a KO victory over ‘God of War‘ at 2:32 of round 2 this past weekend.
At the post-fight press conference, Dustin Poirier stated:
“That’s the only reason I’m fighting. I started fighting to be the world champion, to be the best in the world, undisputed. … I’ve checked a lot of boxes, but there’s one that’s still unchecked, and that’s being a world champion.”
Following the victory, Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz issued a challenge to Poirier, posting to ‘X’:
“Dustin Poirier took a huge risk tonight and came out on top and looked amazing. Dustin vs. @MAKHACHEVMMA in June especially since everyone else has fights (at lightweight). If the UFC is good with this, then Islam would be game.”
Abdelaziz is not wrong, the top two candidates for the next title shot, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, have fights scheduled at the historic UFC 300 this coming April 13th. Oliveira (34-9 MMA) will face Arman Tsarukyan (21-3 MMA), and Gaethje (25-4 MMA) is slated to defend his BMF title against Max Holloway (25-7 MMA).
Well, apparently both fighters, Islam and Dustin, have taken to ‘X’ agreeing to said match-up. Now it’s up to UFC CEO Dana White to make it official.
Dustin Poirier posted to ‘X’:
“Islam in June”
Makhachev responded on ‘X‘ with a handshake.
The Dagestan fighter, at 32, is the current UFC lightweight champion and has only 1 loss in the Octagon. Makhachev (25-1 MMA), sporting 13 consecutive wins in the cage, most recently defeated Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA) by KO last October at UFC 294.
