Dustin Poirier could follow rival Conor McGregor in weight switch after call-out

26 January 2023 , 13:18

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Dustin Poirier could follow rival Conor McGregor in weight switch after call-out

Dustin Poirier could follow Conor McGregor up to welterweight after being called out by Rafael Dos Anjos for an exciting battle of two top former lightweights.

Poirier, who has held interim gold at 155lb and challenged twice for the undisputed belt, has often toyed with the idea of jumping to 170lb. But until now, an obvious fight for him has not arisen at welterweight aside from a grudge fight with Colby Covington that promotional bosses aren't keen to put together.

However, he could be tempted to finally give up the gruelling weight cut to lightweight after being called out by former world champion Dos Anjos, who has reinvented himself up at 170lb. Poirier is keen to put himself in position for a third world title shot, which seems unlikely at lightweight, but could open up doors at welterweight if he can beat Dos Anjos.

When the Brazilian tweeted that it was "So hard to get a fight these days… cowards hiding behind ranking," one fan wrote back that "Poirier vs Dos Anjos is a banger," before adding that "You guys could do it at 170, have it be Dustin’s welterweight debut." Dos Anjos posted that he liked the idea, and tagged Poirier making it a legitimate callout.

Poirier has yet to accept the call, and after defeating Michael Chandler last time out at UFC 281 there's a chance that he will want to make one last run at the lightweight title. To do that he'd need to overcome another fight or two and await the winner of Alexander Volkanovski's two-belt challenge against Islam Makhachev.

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Dustin Poirier could join Conor McGregor up at welterweight (Zuffa LLC)

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“I’ve done it before," Poirier said during a Q&A at the start of last year. “I’ve moved up before in the midst of the unknown and the uncertainties, I don’t know, we’ll see. I can still make 155 - I can still make the cut, do I want to make it five more times to get another title shot? I don’t know where I’m at with that. It’s still kind of murky and undecided, but there are fun fights for me at 170.”

He has made that cut once since to face Chandler, but would have been willing to make the short-notice change to welterweight in order to fight Nate Diaz months prior. He verbally agreed to a last-minute bout with his long-time rival at 170lb, but the contract never materialised and he ended up staying at lightweight.

Donagh Corby