Poirier Says McGregor Could Bring Him Out of Retirement

Dustin Poirier has not entirely closed the door on a return to the Octagon — and the only key that could open it has a very specific shape.

With Conor McGregor back in the UFC and scheduled to face Max Holloway on July 11 at UFC 329, Poirier has made clear that a fourth fight with his old rival is the one matchup that would genuinely pull him back from retirement.

"I might, dude. If it was realistic and they called me and said, 'Hey,' dude I would probably get back in the drug-testing protocol and get licensed again, yeah," Poirier said

The history between the two men is one of the UFC's more complete rivalry narratives. McGregor finished Poirier in the first round of their 2014 meeting, Poirier came back seven years later to knock him out in the second, and their trilogy bout ended with McGregor's broken ankle — an injury that raised serious questions about whether he would ever compete again. He is now answering those questions on July 11 against the same man who handed Poirier his retirement loss at UFC 318 in 2025.

Poirier stepped away from the sport following that decision defeat to Holloway, a fight he had announced in advance as his final appearance. Retirement, however, has proven easier to announce than to maintain — he has spoken about a potential return on multiple occasions since walking away, and McGregor's confirmed comeback has sharpened that conversation considerably.

The practical steps Poirier describes — re-entering the drug-testing protocol, getting licensed again — are not the words of someone dismissing the idea out of hand. They are the words of someone who has thought about what it would actually take. Whether the UFC calls, whether McGregor comes through against Holloway in the condition required to make a fourth fight commercially viable, and whether Poirier's body agrees with what his competitive instinct is telling him are the variables that remain.