Morning Report: Dustin Poirier thinks he’s earned a title shot but willing to fight before then ‘if something makes sense’

On Saturday night at UFC Calgary, Dustin Poirier finally got the win over Eddie Alvarez he’d been chasing since the controversial ending to their first fight at UFC 211, knocking out Alvarez in the second round. With the win, Poirier took ownership of Alvarez’s unofficial “Most Violent” title but he also may have earned himself a crack at the real UFC lightweight strap, at least, that’s what he believes he did.

Speaking with The Luke Thomas Show on SiriusXM Fight Nation on Tuesday, Poirier outlined his future plans, saying that he believes the winner over “The Underground King” has earned him a title shot, hopefully against the winner of the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conoc McGregor fight that looks to be planned for later this year.

“I’m not in a rush,” Poirier said. “If something makes sense, then let’s do it but other than that, I feel like I’ve earned a title shot. I’d love for them to fight and then me fight the winner, beginning of next year if that’s possible, but we’ll see. This is a crazy, crazy, crazy thing that we do and things are always changing so you never know.”

At the moment, Poirier is on the best run of his career, winning three fights over three former champions since the controversial no-contest against Alvarez in 2017. Normally, that type of resume would earn a fighter a title shot but in the currently backlogged lightweight title picture, Poirier may still be left out in the cold. Nurmagomedov and McGregor seemed destined to fight each other next and Tony Ferguson, who is on a 10-fight win streak and was unceremoniously stripped of an interim title this year, would appear to be next in line, so Poirier could be waiting a while to get his shot.

Of course, there is one way Poirier says he’d fight again before receiving a title shot: if the UFC makes it worth his while.

“That’s the only reason I’d come back,” Poirier said. “At the end of the day, I’ve been doing this to be a world champion and I feel like I’m the closest I’ve ever been so for me to do anything else but what I think I’ve earned, there’s gonna need to be money.”