Dustin Poirier has taken to Instagram to issue a thinly layered response after it emerged that Dana White had tentative plans in place for him to match-up against Conor McGregor once again.
On Friday, White told Fox Sports that a rematch of that famous UFC178 bout from 2014 was a likelihood for McGregor: "The fight that makes sense right now is probably [Dustin] Poirier", said White of McGregor's next move. "And then Tony [Ferguson] gets a shot at the title, and the two winners fight each other".
McGregor famously introduced the UFC to the quote 'Red Panty Night' after a large payday in 2015, and it was clear this idea struck Poirier when he heard of White's proposal. He posted this image on his Instagram story on Saturday.
Speaking after his victory over former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez earlier this year, Poirier did call on White to give him a big opponent: "Just look at my track record, Eddie Alvarez, former champ. Anthony Pettis, former champ. Justin Gaethje, former champ. Eddie Alvarez, former champ. That is four champions in a row, what else do I have to do? This is like my 23rd fight in the UFC!"
The situation is complicated by the fact that McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are both facing suspensions and fines from the Nevada Athletic Commission as a result of the post-fight brawl in October. The two will have to go before the commission Dec. 10 in Las Vegas for disciplinary hearings.
Per MMA Fighting, White does not expect the suspension to be too long for Nurmagomedov and said he would be disappointed if it was more than a year.
If it’s over a year, c’mon man. That would not be fair. The whole thing was over in 40 seconds, nobody got touched, nobody got hurt. Nothing happened. I think that the commission has to send a message and I hope it’s not over a year. I don’t think that would be fair.
All things going to plan, the UFC look set for a Poirier v McGregor, Ferguson v Khabib super event in 2019.
