Nate Diaz is undeniably one of the biggest stars in MMA. He can easily make headlines, especially when he talks about potential matchups. This is exactly why Diaz has found himself back in the headlines this time. Diaz has been the subject of a back and forth on Twitter lately talking about a potential matchup with the one and only Dustin Poirier!
Coming off of his devastating loss at UFC 269, Poirier spoke with Ariel Helwani of the MMA Hour in a devastatingly crushing interview where he talked about how he felt after coming off of his loss to lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. At one point in the interview Poirier said that “when I’ve been laying down and thinking about fights, nothing gets me excited…” and after a long pause he added, “unless Nate Diaz wants to fight.”
“When I’ve been laying down and thinking about fights, nothing gets me excited….. unless Nate Diaz Wants to fight.”
You can view that interview here:
Not long after, Diaz would respond on Twitter in a way that only Nate Diaz can.
I’ll fight Dp in January don’t be a scared lil bitch this time now or never pic.twitter.com/w5ly9o3m6y
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) December 16, 2021
Shortly after tweeting this, Diaz would being antagonizing Poirier to which Poirier would respond that he is serious about what he said.
Im serious bro
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) December 16, 2021
After Diaz tweeted another very Nate Diaz-esque tweet, Poirier would respond enticing him again.
Come get it⚔
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) December 16, 2021
After Diaz seemingly stopped responding, Poirier would tweet again asking where he’s gone
Nathaniel?
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) December 16, 2021
Helwani would later clarify that both fighters have serious intentions about fighting each other and that it’s not just a Twitter war.
Both @NateDiaz209 and @DustinPoirier are legitimately serious about fighting each other next month, I’m told. Both would accept the fight right away for January.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 16, 2021
The History Between Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier; The Fight That Got Away
Poirier and Diaz eyeing each other is actually nothing new. The two were supposed to fight each other at UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden back in 2018. There was a lot of back and forth between the two on Twitter and it was a fight that had a lot of fan hype behind it. Obviously any fight with Diaz will have fan hype but fans we incredibly excited to see him matched up against someone with high standings in the lightweight division like Poirier had.
Another thing that was building fan support behind this fight was the fact that there were rumblings that the fight would be for a championship belt in a new and long awaited 165 pound division.
I hear UFC is searching for a main event when they have one already. It's me vs Nate. 165 pound title. A main event for the people. Stop searching, Dana. We got this. Let's go.
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) September 25, 2018
155,165,170LBS
UFC 230 main event I'm waiting on you now Nate. You haven't said yes…
I'm surprised motherfucker!
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) September 29, 2018
UFC president Dana White would shut down the rumors that the fight was for a title belt in a brand new 165 pound division. In fact, the UFC has still not created a 165 pound division but Khabib Nurmagomedov’s MMA promotion Eagle FC made big news this week announcing that they have created MMA’s first 165 pound division. Ultimately this fight would fall apart in 2018 and hasn’t really been talked about much since.
Helwani mentioned on one of his shows today that he’s not super confident that this fight will happen in January, but wouldn’t be surprised if it came together eventually.
Per @arielhelwani just now on Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier: “I think it’s a long shot for it to happen in January, but I don’t think it’s a long shot for it to happen period.” #UFC #NateDiaz #DustinPoirier
— Tanner 🎄🎅🏼 (@TDorow10) December 16, 2021
Author’s Note:
In full honesty, the fact that this fight fell apart still keeps me up at night personally. If there was one fight that I wish would have never fallen apart, it was this one. I wish I could go back in time to 2018 and make this fight happen, preferably for a 165 pound championship but I’d take it at 155 pounds too. So hopefully this fight can come together sooner rather than later before it slips away again!
