Poirier Wants To Move Up To Welterweight, Paul Wants An MMA Fight
Dustin Poirier’s hint that he could move up to welterweight has gotten many people talking.
Poirier’s last fight was a huge setback, as he suffered a second-round-stoppage loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 291.
Poirier had to go back to the drawing board, as Gaethje picked up the ‘BMF’ title. That was Poirier’s second defeat in his last three fights following his other loss to Charles Oliveira.
And given that Poirier has had an indifferent career at lightweight, with three wins and two losses, the former is now considering a move up to welterweight.
And following Nate Diaz’s loss to Jake Paul on his boxing bout, Poirier hinted about a move up to welterweight to potentially face Nate.
Poirier’s Comments
Nathaniel…..
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 6, 2023
Ok I'll move up
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 6, 2023
Diaz did not respond, which is understandable given his recent loss to Paul. Not only that, but Diaz’s UFC future is unclear at the moment despite his comments that he does want to return.
However, one fighter who is ready for the task is Shavkat Rakhmonov. The former is undefeated with a record of 5-0.
This has included three stoppages in his five fights. Rakhmonov was set to square off against Kelvin Gastelum on September 16th, 2023. But given that Gastelum withdrew due to injury, Rakhmonov is open to the idea of facing Poirier next.
Shavkate Responds To Poirier
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) August 6, 2023
Paul Wants An MMA Fight
Much in the same way, Jake Paul is ready to make waves following his win over Nate Diaz.
Paul secured a comfortable win via a unanimous decision to beat Diaz who was making his boxing debut.
The highlight of the fight came in the fifth round when Paul landed a left hook that sent Diaz to the floor.
Although the latter managed to continue, Paul’s boxing experience ultimately told. Following the fight, Paul expressed his desire to have a rematch with Nate in the octagon.
Diaz was receptive to the idea, indicating that this could happen later down the line. After all, Paul has signed with the PFL in readiness for his MMA debut.
With that being said, Paul has offered Diaz $10 million in order to make the fight happen. And now Paul has revealed the reasoning for this, which was out of love for the sport of MMA.
Paul’s Reasoning
“I’ve always been real about it (MMA transition). I wanna make history by going to MMA and making it a massive event. No boxers go over to MMA, the MMA fighters go over to boxing. So I wanna respect their sport. I grew up as an MMA fan. In the PFL SmartCage, the offer is there. If he (Diaz) accepts it, you’re gonna see me throwing elbows and kicks,” Paul
This naturally begs the question: what are Paul’s chances in the cage? Well, the star does have a wrestling background which may give him a good foundation to work from.
However, by taking on Diaz, he would be facing one of the best MMA fighters around.
But given that Paul is able to generate such huge viewership and numbers, even a defeat would not be all that problematic.
After all, the ‘Problem Child’ did admit that the Tommy Fury loss was softened by virtue of the fact that he made $30 million from the event.
“I just lost and made $30 million, it doesn’t feel like a loss, I’m in a bigger fight now. It’s only a loss if you let it be a loss. I learned from it, got more focused, brought in a whole new team.
“Became a better person and a better man after that, reset my priorities and my focuses, so it was actually a win,” Paul
As a result, MMA lightweight star Renato Moicano has backed Paul to come out victorious over Diaz. He highlighted Paul’s size and youth as being key in comparison with Diaz who is 38-years-old.
“Diaz is old right now. He’s too one-dimensional with his boxing, with his punches. And on the ground, I feel Jake Paul is way heavier than him, probably way stronger than him. Diaz was saying, ‘This motherf*****r is easy to choke and easy to take down.’ When was the last fight that you saw Diaz try to take somebody down? … He’s just a boxer that has good jiu-jitsu on the bottom,” Moicano
In reality, it is a win-win situation for Paul. The fact that he does not have a professional background is what ultimately makes his events appealing to the fans.
And if he can continue to bring in new fans to the sport of boxing and MMA, then that can only be a good thing for the sport as a whole.
Although the skill level may be questionable at times, Paul has shown a desire to make a name for himself in the sport. And that at the very least should be commended.
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