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Dustin Poirier has never lost two fights in a row.
That stat was put to the test again at UFC 299 as the former UFC interim lightweight champion fought oncoming French finisher Benoit Saint-Denis in Miami.
On Saturday night, Poirier survived a tough first round and got the job done in the second, knocking Saint-Denis out cold with a mean right hook to return to his winning ways.
Last summer, Poirier was on the receiving end of a knockout to Justin Gaethje and fast forward to now and 'The Diamond' shines bright with a highlight of his own.
"I am Mr. Bounce Back," Poirier said on 'The MMA Hour'. "To right this ship, to get back in the win column after a devastating loss like the Gaethje fight. Just to do s*** the right way, have a great training camp, really focus, I practice a lot of mindfulness this camp."
As it turns out, a performance like that didn't come without some sacrifices.
"I kinda blocked myself up from everybody. I have so many people to catch up with because I didn't respond to any text, I didn't answer any calls, like I was just freaking... I've took myself into another place like this training camp.
"Even my family. I mean, I haven't spoke to my father in like 8 or 9 weeks. He was calling me all throughout camp. He called me on fight day. I didn't return any any calls to anyone... I just wanted to block everything out. I just wanted to block everything out and really, fully a 100% focus on this."
Prior to Saint-Denis, Poirier says his past training camps have never been 'to that extreme' before.
When it comes to discussing what's next, the 35 year-old has one more box to check off his career list and that's a UFC world championship. The lightweight crown belongs to Islam Makhachev and Poirier called for his shot, post-fight.
To which Makhachev responded with:
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) March 11, 2024
With title eliminators such as Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan both happening at UFC 300, perhaps a fight between Poirier and Makhachev isn't such a bad idea, after all.
"I haven't spoke to the UFC, but I do think it could happen," Poirier said of potentially fighting Makhachev. "I said that [during] fight week doing those interviews, like, people are asking me where do I think I am in the lightweight division. I really believed that like, I was one big win away, one good finish [from a title fight].
It doesn't matter who's the opponent. I just need to to look good. Just with my career and and how many fights I've had with UFC and how many times I've beaten top guys and stuff, I always feel like I'm one big win away from it at any time in my career.
If it comes to be, this would mark Poirier's third chance to become the UFC Lightweight Champion. The UFC veteran was choked out in a title unification bout vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019 and then once more against Charles Oliveira in 2022.
Poirier is confident the third time's the charm.
"Let's go. I do [think the UFC would be open to it]. I think so.
"I didn't take any damage in this fight. I'd be okay with June. I actually went into this fight with a couple injuries from camp. Gamrot f****** busted my ribs up, like almost 3 weeks ago, and it's been bothering me really bad ever since."
Pay-per-view events UFC 302 and UFC 303 are scheduled for the month of June. We'll see if the timing works out for Dustin Poirier to potentially earn another crack at a UFC title after a momentous performance against Benoit Saint-Denis.
If you use any quotes from this article, please leave an H/T to MMAKnockout.com for the transcription.
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