Media Gaethje Confident Poirier Rematch is Next, but ‘Some people around me think he won’t take it.'

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

With both lightweights sitting near the top of the division and neither currently booked, Justin Gaethje is ready to revisit his Fight of the Year with Dustin Poirier.

No official UFC offer has been made so nothing is a done deal, but after Gaethje and Poirier engaged in an all-time slugfest back in 2018, it seems the matchmaker’s job is already done. For his part, Gaethje is confident he’ll soon see Poirier standing across the octagon from him again, although there are a few others who might disagree with him.

“I think that’s the obvious answer,” Gaethje told MMA Fighting regarding the Poirier rematch. “He’s No. 2, he has no dance partner, and the same with me. I think that fight is certainly a title contention fight. The winner of [Charles] Oliveira and [Beneil] Dariush fight, obviously [they] are going to fight for the title in October, so I need to fight Dustin in August, September, or October to put me on that perfect timeline.“You can’t force anybody to fight. I’m not saying he doesn’t want to fight me, but he probably doesn’t need to ever fight again with how much money he’s made. So I don’t know. I think he’ll take it. Some people around me think he won’t take it. All I can do is focus on myself in that regard.”

Poirier hasn’t given any indication that he’s not interested in a rematch against Gaethje, especially after he specifically spoke about looking for the biggest and best fights possible in the wake of declining a callout from Beneil Dariush.

Of course, signing up for a rematch against Gaethje is also like volunteering to get into a 10-car pile-up on the highway doing 100 miles per hour, so there’s a certain amount of risk involved that may send Poirier looking elsewhere since he already earned a knockout win in their first fight.

“Obviously that’s always a concern,” Gaethje said. “I need a dance partner and if they say no, there’s literally nothing I can do about it. I’m not concerned personally about Dustin specifically, because I think he’s not done fighting. I think he’s still going to want to fight. I think I’m a big fight, a big name. That’s a win-win for both of us in regards to the top echelon of this sport. I think I bring more to the table than that specific matchup [with Dariush] at that time. So I don’t think he would take the same course when it comes to making the choice.

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This is a fight I would definitely love to see again. What are your thoughts SherBros ?

https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...t-some-people-around-me-think-he-wont-take-it

That would be a good fight but I can't say I find it interesting. Poirer just wins again tho. Gaethje doesn't have many ways to beat a guy like Dustin.

 

[Local Plata]

someone has to take the fight.

Unless you ask bitch ass Dana white. If you've got some tats and speak english and just stand and bang like a moron you get the privilege of not having to do that and you can just camp out and claim 'Top 5'.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

it's kinda funny how the old dudes pretty much shut sherdog up about the rank squatting thing and have decisively beaten most of the new guys sherdog thought was the future

 

[dogsdonutsdragons]

its not the wisest fight for dustin to take at this stage but there is some incentive given its almost a lock they get bonuses .

 

[matrixremaster]

Dustin may have won their last fight but Justin took years off his life.

Will he want to go through that again now that he's rich?

That's what Justin is essentially saying.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

it's kinda funny how the old dudes pretty much shut sherdog up about the rank squatting thing and have decisively beaten most of the new guys sherdog thought was the future

Completely.

For the last 6 months it was a common theme that the lower half of the top 10 was better than the upper half of the top 10.

So far the lower half has gone 0-2.

 

[Jackonfire]

Dustin just tweeted

 

[markg171]

It's a hell of a fight and all, but can we get some fresh faces up there?

I hope they don't. Sick of these guys clogging up the fucking division just fighting each other over and over so they don't lose rank and piss and moan about fighting guys 'ahead' of them.

It's been 5 years and 8 fights since they fought each other.

 

[jitzmonkey]

This x 10000000000000000000.9

.9?
If you're not gonna commit to the whole thing, then what's the point of making the post in the first place?

Gaethje gets a different opponent, and Poirier fights Islam in October...

This makes the most sense to me.
Gaethje/Poirier would make for a hell of a title fight if Poirier were to get past Islam.
If their next outings determine them to be over the hill (which is a possibility at their age,) then they can still fight each other in a banger.

And what did I just say?


Of course Dustin would take it, he beat him up before ( not saying it’s a guarantee it would happen again but it’s on the record) and the guy will fight anyone anytime.

Considering that fighting Gaethje is almost a guaranteed facial rearrangement even in victory, it'd make more sense to take an easier route to the title and fight the Arizonan on the biggest stage possible.

Fair point, though

 

[Jonesisnatural]

God I never want to see another Dustin/Justin title fight again
They both choke
Let them fight down the ranks and really earn it. Dustin has done absolutely nothing but almost get finished by Chandler then sub him
Justin beat one guy ranked below him
Beating each other shouldn't warrant a title shot. Ridiculous

 

[Skarsgard]

It's been 5 years and 8 fights since they fought each other.

That's fine. I just want new faces at the top of the division.

 

[Local Plata]

It's been 5 years and 8 fights since they fought each other.

When I say 'these guys' I mean the triad of Gaethje/Poirier/Chandler only fighting 'top ranked' guys like each other, the champ, and a sprinkling of Conor McGregor and old shot Tony Ferguson. Props to Gaethje for finally fighting someone else I guess ... but its just tiresome that they will continue to get title shots, even against completely different champions, off of wins over each other.

Gaethje got two shots against two different champions with a win over old tony, and chandler. Chandler only got one shot and continues to lose so it doesn't look like he'll get another unless he beats someone, I'm sure if he ever fights Conor the winner will get a title shot lmao. Poirier got 2 shots against 2 different champions by beating a FW and then Conor.

So after all of that now it seems that if any of them gets another win over one another they will get yet another title shot against yet another champion. It just seems so transparent that the UFC wants one of these guys to be champion for marketing purposes so they are basically just giving them all of the opportunities possible to slid into a title fight without the risk of falling out of contention by losing to 'lower ranked' guys.

 

[HuskySamoan]

It's a hell of a fight and all, but can we get some fresh faces up there?

No, the UFC wants to profit off of established names for as long as possible and established fighters want to stay on top and risk it as little as possible. This has been the way of boxing for a very long time, it is now becoming the way the of MMAs.

 

[Aluminati]

I hope they don't. Sick of these guys clogging up the fucking division just fighting each other over and over so they don't lose rank and piss and moan about fighting guys 'ahead' of them.

I feel like that's the case with Chandler and Poirier, but Gaethje has pretty much smoked everyone around him except Poirier and Olivera. Dustin vs Justin makes sense, but I'd rather force Dustin to fight someone further below him. He lost to Khabib, spent all of 2021 fighting an unranked Conor x 2, lost another championship fight, and beat Chandler. Somehow ranked #2 contender.

 

[Local Plata]

I feel like that's the case with Chandler and Poirier, but Gaethje has pretty much smoked everyone around him except Poirier and Olivera. Dustin vs Justin makes sense, but I'd rather force Dustin to fight someone further below him. He lost to Khabib, spent all of 2021 fighting an unranked Conor x 2, lost another championship fight, and beat Chandler. Somehow ranked #2 contender.

Yeah I mean at least Gaethje finally fought someone like Fiziev at least.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

I hope they don't. Sick of these guys clogging up the fucking division just fighting each other over and over so they don't lose rank and piss and moan about fighting guys 'ahead' of them.

Justin just fought down in rank and Dustin has fought almost every top 5 fighter in the past 5 years. This narrative is silly

 

[Kwic]

Dustin himself recently said he is eyeing that fight, not sure if people are aware.

 

[Aluminati]

Justin just fought down in rank and Dustin has fought almost every top 5 fighter in the past 5 years. This narrative is silly

Justin, yes. Dustin has lost his last two title shots, fought unranked Conor x 2, and beat Chandler. He has beat one top five fighter in the last three years and it's Chandler. He needs to fight someone he hasn't fought recently to keep that #3 ranking. I'm sure he'd prefer it was Islam, but I'd rather he fight Dariush.

 

[Ironheart]

I like that this fight would be a banger and would also help clear up the logjam in the top five. Loser here would likely be looking at opponents in the 6-10 range instead, or in Gaethje's case he might just retire on a loss. He seems to have one foot out the door already, based on his own comments.

 

[frederick]

Dustin is too accurate and the way Justin fights i know the winner already

If Justin used his jab more I think he could do a lot better.