Dana White: ‘Some guys have the McGregor path—some have the Poirier path’

Dustin is Poirier triumphed over the Max Holloway for the interim lightweight title, inserting an exclamation point at the end of UFC 236 with a fun five-round melee. UFC president Dana White guaranteed Poirier secured a shot at champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The fight is likely for September, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports reported.

Poirier, 30, fought in the UFC times before finally lifting that desired gold.

Fighting through two divisions and running into superstars, who seemed to have it easier than himself, hardwork paid off on Saturday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Some guys have the Conor McGregor path [to a title shot] and some guys have the Dustin Poirier path,” White said. “For some people it works out for and some people have longer roads. Poirier stayed the path and kept training and did what he had to do to get here.

“In the words of Teddy Atlas, I knew I had 25 minutes to make life fair tonight,” Poirer added. “Nothing mattered. When I had been overlooked in the past and had to climb back up, nothing mattered but tonight and me showing up for 25 minutes and staying focused.”

Poirier, following humble beginnings in Louisiana, is a winner of 10 of his last 11 fights dating back to that knockout loss to McGregor.

Chances to avenge that particular loss are up in the air, contingent on the Irish puncher’s whims to step back in the Octagon. But fighting Nurmagomedov provides Poirier an opportunity to topple the man who took McGregor apart.