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Chael Sonnen believes Dustin Poirier should have a competitive send-off to his MMA career, just like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre.
'The Diamond' is approaching the final stages of his career, having fallen short once again on his quest for the lightweight title. The Louisiana native last fought at UFC 302 back in June, suffering a fifth-round defeat at the hands of Islam Makhachev.
Following the loss, Poirier admitted he was close to hanging up his gloves. However, the 35-year-old has since confirmed he is in talks for potentially two final fights in the promotion. Whilst it's unlikely either of the fights will be for the belt, Chael Sonnen has stated the No.4 ranked lightweight must still test himself against the best.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Good Guy / Bad Guy show, 'The American Gangster' weighed in on Poirier's future. Sonnen believes Dustin Poirier must follow in the footsteps of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre, who faced Justin Gaethje and Michael Bisping, respectively in their final bouts. He explained:
"If the guy [Poirier] goes out there and wins then by proxy, if we accept the resignation...But you just beat a guy we owe three fights to, it becomes a bit of a problem. I've gotta give a couple of guys a pass. I've gotta give Khabib a pass, he fought everybody there was...I've gotta give St-Pierre a pass. He even went to a different weight class...Just to explain why the last match has to be so hard,it has to be because we take you at your word, we've gotta make sure we've got a guy under contract who can [potentially defeat Poirier]."
Check out Chael Sonnen's comments here (14:10):
Dustin Poirier hopeful he can lay down his gloves in front of his home fans
Dustin Poirier is planning on calling time on his MMA career in front of a Louisiana crowd, his hometown fans who have supported him since the beginning.
After alluding to his retirement following a UFC 302 loss to Islam Makhachev, 'The Diamond' has since confirmed he's planning on fighting at least one more time. In regards to when or where that takes place, however, Poirier has stated he hopes it is back where it all began.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on his new self-titled show, Poirier explained:
"I will fight again. It's just how this things unfolds, we'll see when I do retire. It could be uno mas, it could be dos mas. I had a good meeting at the UFC headquarters... My goal is to get a fight, get an event here in Louisiana, whether that's Lafayette, Louisiana, New Orleans. I want to lay the gloves down where I started fighting. That's my goal. Just opponent availability, what makes sense."
Check out Dustin Poirier's comments here:
