Former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier says he would “beat up” Tony Ferguson if they fought at UFC 249.
UFC 249 is supposed to be headlined by a UFC lightweight title fight between the undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. A recent ban on all large gatherings in the state of New York left UFC 249 in jeopardy of being cancelled.
UFC president Dana White assured the fans the the event will go ahead on April 18, but at a new location, which has not been announced yet. Then, more bad news struck the event after Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he may not be able to leave his country due to recently imposed travel restrictions.
When the news broke, UFC were looking for a potential replacement opponent for Tony Ferguson. Some names that were touted were Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
“The Diamond” recently talked to ESPN MMA about potentially stepping in as a replacement opponent for Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. He said that he believes if the two did fight at UFC 249, he would “beat up” Ferguson:
“Anybody, I’ll fight anybody [on 249]. I think I beat up Tony, man, I really do,” Poirier said.
Poirier also said that he would be open to fighting Justin Gaethje on the card. The two previously fought at UFC on Fox 29 in April of 2018:
“The Gaethje fight as well, I’d do a rematch with him.” Poirier said.
Dustin Poirier is already scheduled to fight Dan “Hangman” Hooker in the main event at UFC San Diego later this year. He believes that the event will not be going ahead due to the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus:
“No, I don’t think so man, I really don’t think [the event will happen] I don’t have the feeling. At this point, there is no way to properly prepare. I have my own personal gym here in Louisiana and I can go hit the bags. I have two buddies who I train with there who are social distancing themselves so I kind of trust them to not bring the fungus among us in my gym,” Poirier added.
“Other than that, I’m there hitting the bags, rolling with those guys or I’m at my house. I can jog and stuff and get in shape. But, to be fine-tuned for a fight at the highest level I can’t do it. I don’t know what my opponent is doing as well if he is not being able to train. May seems like a push but we will see.” he concluded.
It was recently reported that Khabib Nurmagomedov might be able to travel after all, as private flights could still be allowed to leave the country.
The new location for UFC 249 is yet to be officially revealed. UFC president Dana White recently said that he has “four or five” potential locations at this time.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov says that he believes UFC 249 will most likely be moved to a location in the Middle East – potentially Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 1st April, 2020.
Discussion about this post