A showdown between newly minted interim champion Dustin Poirier and lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov is looming. Following the main event of UFC 236, in which Poirier defeated Max Holloway to become the interim champion, UFC president Dana White essentially confirmed that his next opponent will be Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is currently serving a suspension for his involvement in the UFC 229 post-fight melee.
“Yes, that’s the fight,” White said. “Poirier will fight Khabib next. Probably in September.”
Khabib took to social media following the Poirier-Holloway match, disagreeing with the results but giving respect to Dustin. Praising both fighters for their performances, Khabib scored it a draw.
While some may argue that Poirier has had one of the easier paths to a title shot, White defended the interim champion, who fought a tough five rounds against Holloway.
“Poirier has stayed the path and trained hard and done what he’s had to do to to get here and tonight was his night. He fought an incredible fighter and he won," White said of Poirier.
While White is aware that many were hoping to see a Nurmagomedov-Ferguson championship fight, the UFC president was openly critical of Ferguson, who turned down the fight against Holloway, opening the path for Poirier.
“This was his fight,” White said of Ferguson. “This was supposed to be him and Max tonight, this was his fight. He turned it down. And we made it very clear that the winner of this fight, just like Israel and Kelvin, would fight for the title. Unless something happens to Dustin Poirier, he gets hurt or gets injured or something happens, he’s got the fight.”