Dustin Poirier (photo via UFC / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

After coming up short against lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, Dustin Poirier has raised questions about his fighting future via a post-fight statement he made.

Poirier faced Nurmagomedov in the headliner of UFC 242, and was submitted by the latter with a third-round, rear-naked-choke. The loss snapped the 30-year-old’s six-fight, undefeated streak. During the post-fight press conference, Poirier had this to say about his future (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“It’s tough to say right now. This was my 41st fight tonight. I’m only 30 years old. I’ve just been through so much in my fighting career, it’s like I don’t know what’s next, you know?” Poirier said. “I thought, honestly, the last 10 weeks of training camp and preparing for this fight, I thought the stars were aligning and I thought this was my night. I thought this was destiny. But—I don’t want to just keep crying up here in front of you guys—this just means a lot to me. To have a performance like that and in the moment I was just waiting for each round and I thought I was going to start pulling away and start out-pacing him later on in the fight. But he’s just so-his balance and weight distribution against the fence, when he’s on top, is so strong. Physically, he didn’t feel overwhelming. I’ve fought guys that are stronger than him. But skill-wise and balance-wise it felt really good.

“I just really thought tonight I was going to fly back home to the United States undisputed world champ, so this really hurts. I’m going to go back home and talk to my wife. Like I said, I have a lot of tread left on the tires.”

But, in a video statement Poirier made after the loss, the rugged vet noted that “if I choose to fight again”, he’ll be back “strong”.

In a surprising social media post, Dustin Poirier has raised questions around his fighting future following his loss to Khabib. #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/PPRB7SxGhk

— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) September 8, 2019

Poirier, who defeated Max Holloway in April to win the interim lightweight title, now holds a record of 25-6, with 1 no-contest.