Dustin Poirier shares hopeful news after UFC return discussions: "I want to lay the gloves down where I started fighting"

Dustin Poirier has not competed since his fifth-round submission loss at UFC 302 in June when he challenged the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

While he initially hinted at retirement after the bout, 'The Diamond' has since shared that he will compete at least one more time before ending his mixed martial arts career. He recently revealed that he is hoping for his final appearance to be in Louisiana.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on his new self-titled show, the No. 4-ranked lightweight said:

"I will fight again. It's just how this things unfolds, we'll see when I do retire. It could be uno mas, it could be dos mas. I had a good meeting at the UFC headquarters... My goal is to get a fight, get an event here in Louisiana, whether that's Lafayette, Louisiana, New Orleans. I want to lay the gloves down where I started fighting. That's my goal. Just opponent availability, what makes sense."

Poirier continued:

"Behind the scenes, people don't understand this, but these shows are booked a year in advance. I think a few months ago, we were speaking about it and he has already booked all his pay-per-views through August or something like that. So, it's hard to just throw things together last second. It takes a lot of planning. There's a lot of moving parts with these big UFC events, but my goal is to take my gloves off in Louisiana and retire [at] home."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments on retiring in Louisiana below:

Poirier added that he is 95 percent sure about the promotion returning to his home state for the first time since UFC Fight Night 68 in June 2015. He noted that the bigger question is if he will take a bout to remain active as it may take some time to schedule an event in Louisiana.

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Dustin Poirier angles for Justin Gaethje trilogy clash in Louisiana

Dustin Poirier has shared the octagon with Justin Gaethje twice. 'The Diamond' won the first bout via fourth-round TKO at UFC on FOX 29 in 2018. 'The Highlight' got revenge at UFC 291 last July, capturing the 'BMF' title via second-round knockout.

During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the No. 4-ranked lightweight expressed interest in a trilogy when asked about an opponent for the last fight of his career, stating:

"It changes from week to week, month to month. This landscape of fighting is so crazy. Me and Gaethje are 1-1. I would love to do the last fight with him in Louisiana. Our first fight was in his backyard, our second fight was in a neutral ground, the third one, let's do it in my backyard."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments on a trilogy bout with Justin Gaethje below (2:17:32):

Poirier agreed with Helwani mentioning that both Dan Hooker and Nate Diaz would make interesting opponents. He noted that if the latter returns to the UFC, he would be willing to move up to welterweight to make the fight happen.