Dustin Poirier wants Conor McGregor – Claims “Cowboy” is on his way out

Conor McGregor is rumored to fight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in early 2020, but Dustin Poirier thinks a fight between him and McGregor makes more sense.

Poirier and McGregor have already shared the cage once, but a lot has happened since their 2014 fight, where McGregor walked away with the TKO victory in the first round.

Both Poirier and McGregor has gone from featherweights to lightweight and claimed UFC gold: McGregor as UFC’s first double champion in feather- and lightweight, and Poirier as UFC’s interim lightweight champion.

With their history and background, Poirier thinks a rematch between him and McGregor makes way more sense than a fight between McGregor and Cerrone (via Damon Martin @ MMAfighting):

“I respect “Cowboy” and everything he’s done but I do think he’s on the back end of his career,” Poirier said. “It’s ‘Cowboy,’ he can show up and submit or knock out Conor as well. I’m not counting the guy completely out but I do think that is a more favorable fight for him on his return.”

“Fight a guy who’s been KO’d or TKO’d twice in his past two fights? I’m not a matchmaker. I think me and [Conor] makes more sense.”

Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2?

Poirier is still recovering from a hip surgery, but says he will be ready to go full speed in the gym in January, and can return to competition in late March, early April.

With both McGregor’s and Poirier’s most recent loss coming against lightweight champion Khabib, Porier sees a potential matchup between him and McGregor as an excellent way for them to get fast tracked to title contention:

“I think it would make more sense if he’s trying to get back to the top,” said Poirier. “I was the former interim world champion. Conor’s the former undisputed world champion. We fought years ago, we both had our separate paths and we’ve both done great things. I think this makes a lot of sense. I’m No. 2, I think he’s No. 3. It makes a lot of sense.

“I think the fans want to see it as well but time will tell. I definitely want that fight, and it’s something I want to do.”