Dustin Poirier is sticking to his MMA retirement, but there is one fight that he’d get into the boxing ring for.
Poirier got for his final fight what few UFC fighters get: an epic sendoff in his hometown, headlining a card in New Orleans, Louisiana. UFC 318, dubbed ‘The Last Dance,’ featured “The Diamond” facing Max Holloway for the third time. Dustin would lose a competitive decision to “Blessed.”
Just over two months later, and Poirier is talking about one more last dance, this time for TKO’s new
Zuffa Boxing league against Nate Diaz.
“Zuffa Boxing 12rnds me and Nathaniel I’d do it,” Poirier wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Only 1 more fight I’d take.”
UFC fighter retirements rarely last long, but two months is short even for this sport. But Poirier pushed back when a fan replied with “Here we go again!”
“We not even going anywhere but someone asked me,” he wrote. “I’m retired I’m done but Nate is one that got away.”
Poirier and Diaz almost fought multiple times over the past several years. The closest they came was at UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden, but Poirier says Diaz ‘negotiated himself out’ of the fight. Since then, Poirier has referred to Diaz as ‘the one that got away’ and has even called for a boxing match with the younger Diaz brother multiple times.
So this is nothing new. What is new is Zuffa Boxing, which will kick off in 2026 and could use a few major fights like Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz to draw eyeballs. If there was ever a time this could happen, it would be now. Diaz recently tweeted saying he wanted to fight Terence Crawford next, so Poirier could be too small potatoes for him.
We’ll keep you updated on whether this fight looks like it might come together.
