Dustin Poirier’s Victory Has a Major Influence on His Next Shot at the Title
Dustin Poirier's fight against Michael Chandler was electric as he added yet another formidable name to an already impressive resume. Poirier continues to add his UFC legacy with big win after big win. His latest victory not only adds to his legacy but also has a major influence on his future fights. Poirier's career is impressive and highly respected by his peers, but he still searching for that championship belt. His chance to win that belt is more than likely going to happen in the near future, here is how Dustin's next fights could line up.
The UFC lightweight division has finally seen a change in power after Charles Oliveira was dethroned by Islam Makhachev. This change in power is more than likely going to affect Poirier's path to a title fight. It was assumed by many that the winner of Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier was going to get a rematch against Oliveira, but that might not be the case with Olivera losing to Islam.
We have to assume that the former champ, Oliveira, will have the closest path to the title fight in order to set up a highly sought-after rematch. With that being said, there are a couple of ways this could go down. The UFC could just set the rematch now and have Oliveira's next fight be for the title. This doesn't seem likely considering Islam is already to defend his title against Alexander Volkanovski on February 11th.
The second and most likely scenario is to put Oliveira in a contention match. This means that the two fights in this bout are looked at as the best options to contend for a title fight. With Poirier coming off a big victory against Chandler, there's not a better contender for Oliveira to face off against. Not only would Oliveira's road to redemption story sell PPVs, but this would also be the second fight between Oliveira and Poirier and we all know fans love a good rematch.
Dustin has mentioned in the past how grueling the training camps have been on his body the last couple of years as well as the time they take away from his family. You have to imagine that after thirteen years of professional fighting, Poirier won't stick around for much longer unless he believes he has a chance at another title fight. His last title fight ended in a submission to Charles Oliveira.
UFC is a crazy and unpredictable sport, so a lot can happen between now and Poirier's next fight. No matter who it is, I know all of Louisiana will be cheering the Diamond on just like we were Saturday.