UFC legend Dustin Poirier said that he is open to coming back out of retirement on one condition. That is, a fight against rival Nate Diaz.

Poirier retired last summer after a decision loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318 in his home state of Louisiana. For Poirier, the retirement ended his 14-year UFC career, but he felt good about the decision. Though he is just 37, he has two young children that he wants to spend time with. Not to mention, he took quite a bit of damage during his UFC career, and we all know that it’s a young man’s sport. Still, he was a top-10-ranked fighter before he stepped away, so it always felt like a comeback was possible for “The Diamond.” Now, it appears there is a chance of it happening.

Dustin Poirier Considering UFC Comeback

Although Poirier retired after UFC 318, it appears as though he is already considering a comeback, not even one full year after laying his gloves down in the center of the Octagon in New Orleans.

Speaking on the “Deep Waters” podcast, Poirier said that there is one opponent he would consider coming back to fight, and that’s Diaz. These two were supposed to fight at UFC 280 in November 2018, but the fight never materialized. Now, in 2026, Poirier is hoping that he gets the chance to scrap with Diaz, and he is speaking his truth about why the first booking at UFC 280 was canceled in the first place.

“I still want to whip Nate’s ass. I’ll come back to fight him because he got away, and he lied, and the fans ran on his side. The UFC knew that I was going to fight Nate at our first matchup at Madison Square Garden. Nate was having trouble with his negotiation. I don’t know what was going on, but the UFC called me and said, ‘We want to keep you on the Madison Square Garden card, would you fight so and so?’ They started offering me other people. I said, ‘Listen, if it’s not Nate, I’m not fighting, I’m going to go have my hip taken care of. If it’s Nate, I’ll fight.’ It wasn’t Nate. They offered me Kevin Lee, they offered me a few other names. I said, ‘I’m going to have surgery on my hip.’ But then Nate used that, and I was the fall guy, like the fight’s off because I pulled out. But I never pulled out, I just never wanted to fight anybody else but Nate,” Poirier said.

Nate Diaz is Fighting Mike Perry on Netflix

On May 16, Diaz will return to MMA when he takes on Mike Perry on the MVP MMA card on Netflix. For the 41-year-old Diaz, this is his first MMA fight since September 2022, when he submitted Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. He has competed in two professional boxing matches since then, but now he returns to the cage to take on Perry in what should be an exciting fight between two fan-friendly veterans.

UFC president Dana White recently admitted the promotion was in talks with Diaz to return to the UFC before he took more money to fight Perry on Netflix, and you can’t fault him for doing that. But perhaps the UFC will revisit a reunion with Diaz in the Octagon should he defeat Perry, and a grudge match against Poirier would be perfect for all parties involved.