5 potential opponents for Dustin Poirier following his loss to Charles Oliveira

#2. Dustin Poirier vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Despite once competing at 145 lbs, Dustin Poirier now appears to be one of the larger lightweights on the UFC’s roster. He clearly has to cut quite a bit of weight to reach the lightweight limit.

Poirier has hinted at a move up to the welterweight division on quite a few occasions. So why not book ‘The Diamond’ against the 170 lbs division’s fastest up-and-comer, Khamzat Chimaev?

Chimaev has already gone 4-0 in the UFC despite only being part of the roster for just over a year. So far, no opponent has even come close to testing him. His most recent foe, Li Jingliang, was thoroughly dominated despite many expecting him to give ‘Borz’ a tricky fight.

UFC president Dana White has been bullish about Chimaev’s prospects, saying he’s ready to fight anyone – adding that other top welterweights are currently avoiding a fight with him.

That’s where Dustin Poirier could come in. Not only would this fight probably be worthy of headlining a UFC pay-per-view, but if ‘The Diamond’ could become the man to stop Chimaev’s hype train, he’d instantly put himself back on track.

More importantly, as a lightweight moving up a division, Poirier probably wouldn’t pick up too much flack if he were to lose to a larger, more powerful foe like ‘Borz’.

This fight would undoubtedly come out of left field, but it’d be one of the most exciting that the UFC could make right now and would undoubtedly have the fans salivating.

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#1. Dustin Poirier vs. Colby Covington

Assuming Dustin Poirier is willing to move up to 170 lbs, the fight that might make the most sense for him right now could be against former UFC welterweight title challenger Colby Covington.

Like Poirier, Covington’s hopes of becoming a UFC champion were dashed in 2021, as he fell to current welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman for the second time.

Just like ‘The Diamond’, Covington doesn’t necessarily have a clear and obvious route back to another crack at the champion. So with neither man likely to be claiming a shot at gold in 2022, why not match them together?

After all, there’s a ready-made backstory between the two.

Covington and Poirier were teammates at American Top Team for quite a few years. However, things turned sour in 2020 when ‘Chaos’ labelled Poirier a “doofus” after ‘The Diamond’ supposedly complained about him to ATT owner Dan Lambert.

Since then, Covington has constantly attacked Poirier in the media. 'Chaos' released footage of Poirier supposedly bullying an amateur fighter in training – something refuted by ‘The Diamond’, who claimed his sparring partner was a professional with 20 wins. Recently, Covington also labeled Poirier a “quitter” after his recent loss to Charles Oliveira.

There is no doubt that Dustin Poirier would probably love to shut Covington’s mouth – even if there’d be a big question mark over whether he could pull it off.

If ‘The Diamond’ is now targetting “money fights” rather than a path back to the UFC lightweight title, then this ought to be the ideal fight for him.