Dustin Poirier: Nate and I Were Offered UFC 230 Main Event

Much to the disappointment of the MMA world, the highly anticipated UFC 230 bout between Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier was cancelled due to an injury sustained by Poirier (hip). Prior to the cancellation, many fans were calling for Diaz and Poirier to headline the event. Both Diaz and Poirier led this charge, even going a step further and calling for the fight to be for a brand new 165-division title. Dana White and the UFC brass have been consistently opposed to opening a new division, with White saying that opening the new division has never even been in consideration. However, what the public was unaware of is that the UFC were willing to make the Poirier/Diaz fight the UFC 230 main event, but one thing got in the way…or, rather, one man:

“Nate was being hard to deal with, I believe,” Dustin Poirier said Monday on The MMA Hour. “They offered it at 155; he wanted 160. I agreed to that. Then, he kind of negotiated himself out of the main event spot. They offered us the main event, I accepted, Nate over-negotiated, we lost the main event. It was just back to back, day after day of him trying to have his way, honestly.”

Dustin Poirier also confirmed in the interview that the “UFC wanted no part of any catchweight or anything like that.” While Poirier went on to detail the frustration of planning to fight someone as fickle as Nate Diaz, he did not close the door on signing on to face the Stockton native again.

“Even if everything would have went smooth, I’m not sure if this guy would have even went through with this fight. But if the UFC wants it, I’m down. If they can make it happen, I’m down.”