Poirier Calls Out Topuria And Holloway

Dustin Poirier has called out Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway for his next fights.
Poirier’s comments came following Topuria’s third-round knockout win against Holloway to retain his UFC Featherweight Title. It was his first defense of the title after securing the belt with a knockout win against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. Topuria lived up to his pre-fight comments, where he stated that he would stop Holloway. He urged Blessed to meet him in the center of the Octagon during the early parts of the fight. Holloway did not take up that gesture, but he could not prevent the Georgian from overpowering him. The fight ended in dramatic circumstances following a series of flurries from the featherweight champ.
Topuria’s Next Move
In his post-fight octagon interview, Volkanovski joined Topuria as the pair embraced each other. Topuria paid his respects to the Australian, stating he deserved another title shot. That could be a fight which happens next. However, if Dustin has anything to go by, he wants to also get his shot. The Diamond is coming off a submission defeat against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. The fifth-round submission loss prevented Poirier from becoming the UFC Lightweight Champion.
It was another major setback after he had suffered similar lightweight title losses against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. Dustin has said that he wants to fight in Louisiana, his hometown, before retiring from the sport. He suggested a BMF one-night style tournament featuring names such as Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway and Dan Hooker. However, he has now turned his attention to Topuria and Holloway.
Topuria is unlikely since he has indicated his desire to potentially move up to face Makhachev for the chance to become a two-weight UFC champion. A fight against Holloway could make sense. Max is the BMF Champion. Holloway defeated Gaethje in a thrilling fight at UFC 300. He stopped The Highlight in the last round with just a second left after connecting with a massive right hand to win the BMF Belt.
Dustin’s Aim
While Holloway lost to Topuria, the BMF title was not on the line, meaning that Poirier still has the chance to fight for a belt. He has two wins over Holloway at UFC 143 and UFC 236. But the problem is that Holloway will likely take some time off before deciding his next move. He suffered a lot of punishment in the Topuria loss. But Max has said he is likely to stay at lightweight permanently, making that bout possible.
“I’m a sit down with my team, we’ll see. Like I said, I had the best ’45 cut here, but, I mean, what else is there to do? I had a couple times to reclaim it, new guys coming up, yeah that’d be fun, but I think ’55 looks more fun, as fighting the caliber, and everyone there and the names there look really exciting to put my name in the mix,” Holloway said
If Dustin were to get his chance, he wanted those two names.
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