Dustin Poirier knows he’s still in the title picture despite losing his last fight.
Poirier is coming off a KO loss to Justin Gaethje in July for the BMF title and will now face Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 in a highly-anticipated matchup. It is a step-down in competition for Poirier as he is fighting down in the rankings, but ‘The Diamond’ thinks a win over Saint-Denis at UFC 299 can set him up to get in a title eliminator fight next.
“I think a lot of that depends on how I win. If it’s a big finish or something like that, I believe I’m a win away from a title shot with a great performance. But, it rights the ship,” Dustin Poirier said at UFC 299 media day. “It gets me back in the win column. We take it from there. I try not to look too far past these fights because Saturday isn’t here yet. We’ve got to go out there and do the damn thing. Sunday, we reassess and see really where we’re at and what’s next.”
Although Benoit Saint-Denis isn’t a top-five or top-10 lightweight, a win for Poirier still would be a statement, considering ‘The Diamond’ is the betting underdog and many are writing him off going into this fight. But, Poirier does have confidence he will get his hand raised and prove he still is a top lightweight contender.
However, whether or not Dustin Poirier will be a win away from a title shot is uncertain. Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Arman Tsarukyan all have claims for a title shot, but ‘The Diamond’ is a big name so perhaps the UFC does put him in a title eliminator with a win on Saturday at UFC 299.
Dustin Poirier is currently 29-8 and one No Contest as a pro and coming off a KO loss to Gaethje. Before that, he submitted Michael Chandler to return to the win column after a submission loss to Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title.
