"Always one fight away from a title" - Top UFC light heavyweight warns Dustin Poirier against move up to welterweight

UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith believes Dustin Poirier should stay at lightweight.

On July 29, Poirier fought Justin Gaethje in the UFC 291 main event for the BMF title. ‘The Diamond’ looked good through the first five minutes before Gaethje landed a shocking head-kick knockout in the second round. In the aftermath of the loss, the Louisana native has teased a move up to the welterweight division.

During a recent episode of the Believe You Me Podcast, Smith had this to say about Poirier potentially fighting at 170 pounds:

“Those guys at 170 are really big, like Belal [Muhammad] is so big for being at 170. That’s just the guy that stood out to me because I’d seen him over the weekend, but, yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think he needs to. I like him [Poirier] at 155. I think he’s doing a great job there, and he’s always one fight away from winning a title because these fights are so competitive and these guys are so good at the tip of the spear at the top.”[1:05:13-1:05:40]

Since making his UFC debut in 2011, Poirier fought at featherweight before moving up to lightweight. Since then, the former UFC 155-pound interim champion has solidified himself as a superstar, with wins against Max Holloway twice, Conor McGregor twice, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, and more.

---

Dustin Poirier isn’t interested in fighting new UFC up-and-comers

Over the past six years, Dustin Poirier has exclusively fought elite lightweights in the UFC. Now that he’s in the second half of his career, ‘The Diamond’ doesn’t plan on fighting up-and-coming contenders. During an interview on The MMA Hour, Poirier had this to say:

"I don’t want to fight a new guy in the UFC or something like that. It has to mean something to me. Otherwise, I’m just fighting to fight. I’ve done that my whole life. I got ahead doing that. I put myself in a great position. It has to mean something. This meant something to [at UFC 291]. This was a legacy fight. That’s what really hurts.”[17:24-17:39]

It’ll be intriguing to see who Dustin Poirier ends up fighting next. Regardless of the weight class, there are plenty of must-see matchups for ‘The Diamond.’ Only time will tell if he can become an undisputed UFC champion before retiring.