Gilbert Burns would like to welcome Dustin Poirier to the UFC welterweight division.
UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns only wants to fight big names going forward, and ‘Durinho’ believes he would be the perfect fighter to welcome Dustin Poirier to the cage at 170 pounds.
Burns, who is looking to rebound from a grueling decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273, suggested the matchup after Poirier Tweeted that he is currently without an opponent and looking for a fight.
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) April 23, 2022
“170?”, Burns, who used to compete at 155 lbs, Tweeted in response to Poirier.
Poirier has long flirted with a move up to 170 after coming up short of winning the UFC lightweight title on two separate occasions at UFC 242 and UFC 269. ‘The Diamond’ was initially expected to make his welterweight debut against Nate Diaz but the UFC no longer appears interested in pursuing that matchup despite a mutual interest from both fighters.
Burns is currently #4 at welterweight while Poirier is #1 at lightweight and #7 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings. Both men are currently without an opponent and looking to bounce back from recent defeats, so, from a logistical standpoint, the matchup makes reasonable sense. Don’t be surprised to see the UFC book this one in the near future.