Dustin Poirier would have stepped in for Tony Ferguson.
In an interview with MMA Junkie, Dustin Poirier said when he found out Tony Ferguson was injured he wanted to be put into the fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 however he was not. He also said he does not have a problem waiting for the bigger opportunity.
“An opportunity pops up like this, of course, I want to throw my name in there, and I feel like I’ve been busting my ass,” said Poirier. “And, hey, I’m cool with that, because I’ll earn it. I don’t want to slide in on somebody’s injury. I want to earn it the hard way, the way I’ve done everything in my life. I’m going to win this fight and see what’s next,” he added.
Poirier will be headlining UFC on Fox 29 on April 17th and in the interview he said UFC told him moving him from that fight would have created more problems. UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway eventually was chosen to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 223.
Fightful MMA will have live coverage for both UFC 223 and UFC on Fox 29.
The full interview with Poirier can be seen at MMAJunkie.com.
