Dana White 'rejected' UFC legend's Zuffa Boxing request
Dana White rejected a pitch from Dustin Poirier for a huge bout under his Zuffa Boxing umbrella, the UFC legend has claimed.
Poirier called time on his decorated MMA career after a trilogy bout with Max Holloway in his home state of Louisana at UFC 318.
He lost the BMF title fight via unanimous decision and ended his MMA career with 30 wins, 10 losses and one no contest.
Poirier has transitioned into an analyst for ESPN but his love for fighting has not gone away and speaking in a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, the 37-year-old did admit that he does feel a bit lost without.
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"I don’t know who I am without fighting,” Poirier said.
“I’m a father. I’m a husband. I’m a lot of things. But fighting was a cloud in my mind that never went away for 20 years, right? And now I wake up and it’s it’s gone. Like what do I do? I’m still trying to find out. I don’t know.”
But while he will not return to the Octagon, Poirier did admit to having a long-standing interest in boxing and revealed that he pitched to UFC chief White for him to face Nate Diaz in a massive crossover fight for his Zuffa Boxing venture.
However, 'The Diamond, who is still technically under a UFC contract, was knocked back as Zuffa, who signed Conor Benn to a mega $15 million one-fight deal, do not want to make those type of fights.
“That’s something I would like to do, man. Box,” Poirier continued.
“I always wanted to have a couple before I [retired], but I’m still under contract. Even though I’m retired, I still have a contract with the UFC. Trust me, I already pitched it to them. Me and Nate Diaz, Zuffa Boxing, let’s go. 170, whatever. 168, super middleweight, let’s do it.They don’t want any crossover.”
“They want to be taken by the boxing world serious.
“And I think if you open that door of a MMA guy fighting under Zuffa boxing, every guy on the roster, every girl on the roster is going to want to do the same. It just becomes a mess. I think there are some really fun MMA boxing match ups you can make.”
Poirier said that a boxing training camp without any grappling and wrestling would be "smooth sailing" and reiterated that he "would just love to lace em up and box professionally".
Diaz has competed in boxing bouts, defeating Jorge Masvidal but losing to Jake Paul.
He will step inside the ring for the third time on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles as part of the stacked Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carrano event on Netflix.
Diaz will square off against Mike Perry at 170lbs, while Francis Ngannou will also make his return to MMA against former UFC heavyweight Philipe Lins.
Topics: Dana White, UFC
Josh Lawless