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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dustin Poirier isn’t retiring just yet, be he’s leaning that way.

Earlier this month, Poirier challenged Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 302, losing by fifth-round submission. It was Poirier’s third chance at undisputed gold, and at 35 years old, “The Diamond” is far removed from another title shot anytime soon. As such, after the fight Poirier hinted at retirement, and given a few weeks to digest the outcome, the Louisiana native is still thinking that might be it for him.

“I still don’t know,” Poirier said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I can’t say I’ll never fight again, but I just don’t know the reason. What am I going to fight for? To get into a battle? I love that, but I’ve taken some lumps over the years. It has to be for something. And maybe that’s something I’ll realize in the coming weeks, but I’m just taking it one day at a time.

“I’m leaning towards being done. For sure. Especially with getting the title fight, how many more times would I need to fight to put myself back in position to fight for the world title? I don’t know. And like I said, I’m not going to do it again, I’m not going to fight five more times to try and earn another title shot. I’m in a weird spot and I don’t know how to explain it or what decision to make. I’m just taking it day by day and seeing what comes with my mind changing and just to see how I feel.”

Though he ultimately fell short against Makhachev, Poirier still proved he’s one of the best lightweights in the world, giving the champion and top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport all he could handle for nearly five rounds. And as he thinks about that, Poirier says that’s the biggest reason he can’t commit to retiring just yet: Because he knows how good he still is.

“The only thing that makes me not want to walk away is because I know I can still compete with these guys and I feel like I’m still getting better,” Poirier said. “It’s not like I’m slowing down that much or age is catching up with me. My reaction time is still good, I feel good, and I know I can beat these guys. And say I do leave, a year from now, it might not be the same if I ever try to come back. I’m scared to miss what I have left to give, but also I don’t want to give too much of myself. … I want to give more because I know that I have a short window to give the best of myself, but also I’ve given so much of myself to the sport for so long, it’s just, where do I draw the line? That’s a battle I have to figure out with myself.”

Ultimately, whether or not Poirier retires appears to come down simply to how he feels when the time comes, because Poirier acknowledges that while nothing interests him at the moment, an actual fight offer could change things.

“Talking about those things is not exciting to me, but if my phone rang right now and it was Hunter [Campbell] and he said, ‘This fight,’ I’ve got to see how I feel when it’s offered to me,” Poirier said. “That’s how I know what decision to make. Talking about it, there’s nothing attractive to me.”

If UFC 302 was the last time Poirier ever steps in a cage, “The Diamond” appears to be at peace with how his career ended.

“Of course I’m not happy with the result, but I’m happy with who I am,” Poirier said. “What’s more important, what you acquire on the journey or who you become on the journey? And the person I’ve become on this journey, I’m forever grateful to the fight game for turning me into this person. Because the way I think about things, the way I view things, my perspective is completely different, and it’s all because of the ups and downs, picking myself up. I just look at the world in a different way and I’m thankful for that. I’m in a great spot.”

“Everything happened the way it was supposed to happen,” Poirier added. “That’s the thing with my mindset moving forward after these past few fights: I wanted to win, I prepared myself, I was ready to win, ready to sacrifice it all, do what I had to do to get my hand raised, but I lost and that’s life. What do I do? I wake up the next, pick myself up, be grateful my feet touch the floor, and attack a new day. If it’s for me, it won’t miss me. It wasn’t for me that night.”

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Amid his successful reign as the UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev has his sights firmly set on a collision course with Conor McGregor.

The Dagestani has fulfilled all prior expectations and, in turn, is carrying the torch of his predecessor Khabib Nurmagomedov. Despite only recently defending his title for the third time, Makhachev seemingly has plans for his next fight inside the octagon. 

While discussing his potential future opponents, Islam Makhachev made a shock claim. Instead of opting to face credible contender Arman Tsarukyan, Makhachev claimed he would prefer to share the cage with Conor McGregor.

“To be honest, the McGregor fight looks more interesting,” Makhachev said. “In terms of media [attention] and in all respects.”

“But I don’t think he’ll even show up for his next fight. We’ve all seen that video, plus they canceled the press conference.”

Islam Makhachev then spoke about Conor McGregor’s return to the sport. While many are excited for his UFC 303 headliner, Makhachev doesn’t believe that the Irishman will have any success.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to make it to the fight. Even if he does, Chandler will win. He’s more focused, he’s been training hard, he looks more hungry.”

UFC Lightweight champ Islam Makhachev would pick a bout with Conor McGregor over Arman Tsarukyan – but doesn't think the Notorious will return to the octagon anytime soon.

Do you see this fight happening?

[Ushatayka/YT] pic.twitter.com/3wBkJGSiX3

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) June 6, 2024

Related: Conor McGregor calls out Nurmagomedov family for steroid use

Conor McGregor is scheduled to make his long-awaited comeback to the UFC on June 29. 

The Dublin native is set to lock horns with Michael Chandler, though some doubts have been poured on the matchup.

Although Makhachev would prefer to wait for Conor McGregor to step up, he has a viable option in Arman Tsarukyan.

Tsarukyan secured the biggest win of his career last time out. Overcoming adversity in the bout, the Armenian rallied to defeat Charles Oliveira and steal the #1 spot in the lightweight rankings.

Makhachev and Tsarukyan have met once before earlier in their careers. The Russian earned a unanimous decision victory over the young challenger.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jared Cannonier is pointing the finger at referee Jason Herzog for his UFC Louisville loss.

In the middleweight main event of this past Saturday’s card in Kentucky, Cannonier lost to Nassourdine Imavov via a controversial fourth-round TKO when Herzog stepped in to wave off the bout as Cannonier defended himself from an Imavov flurry.

While Cannonier was visibly wobbled prior to the stoppage, he does not believe he was in immediate danger of being stopped and he was deeply disappointed by Herzog’s call.

“When it happened, it was gut-wrenching, to say the least,” Cannonier said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I definitely took some time to collect myself, had to go back and rewatch the fight and really relive the whole thing all over again, and it was really gut-wrenching. It feels like the opportunity to do great things was pretty much stolen from me in that moment. It’s just something that, as fighters, we win or we lose and then we have to live with it, and it’s definitely not fun, it doesn’t get any easier every time.

“It doesn’t feel like I lost the fight. I just felt like it was taken from me, the opportunity to persevere, which is one thing I’ve done in a lot of my fights, and continue on and try to make good on the fight. Gut-wrenching is an understatement.”

The loss was a disappointing blow to Cannonier, who was coming off consecutive wins over Marvin Vettori and Sean Strickland. Cannonier defeated Strickland in December 2022, but Strickland surprisingly went on to capture the middleweight title the following year; with that win on his résumé, Cannonier was in good position to challenge for a championship himself, but now sees himself bumped back a few spots in the contenders’ line.

Cannonier was up on two of the judges’ scorecards heading in to Round 4, which makes the ending of the fight even tougher to stomach.

“When he hit me with the shot, it was a good shot,” Cannonier said. “Definitely took my equilibrium away, but I was definitely in recovery mode. I had my wits about me, I was able to create some distance and then turn to face my opponent. Of course, he did everything he was supposed to do. He kept the pressure on and tried to mount a good offense to try to finish the fight, but I was still there. My hands were up, I was covering up most of those shots.

“Especially in the final sequence, I even threw a counter strike, a nice clean counter strike that I think landed, and then I put my hands right back up to defend for whatever was coming next and that’s when the ref stepped in. Definitely the absolute worst time for him to step in, right after I throw a shot. I’m competently defending myself, my eyes are clear, I’m looking at my opponent, I’m creating space, I’m just intelligently trying to recover from that sequence. … It’s frustrating as hell to go back and watch it every time. I’ve watched it, like, seven or eight times. It’s frustrating as hell every time.

“I felt like I was definitely winning that fight up until that point,” he continued. “Nassourdine was definitely getting some momentum in that fight, in the later moments in the fight, but still at that moment I was winning the fight. … The opportunity to persevere was just snatched away from me, not to mention the chance to get those two checks. My second check, my win bonus check, and probably even that moment could have made it a Fight of the Night. Had the fight kept going, that moment could have made it a Fight of Night, so it could have been a potential performance bonus. I feel like the opportunity was just taken away from me as well as Nassourdine, the opportunity for him to have a clean finish, a clean win, for him to go in. Instead, we have this controversy that we have to deal with.”

Cannonier entered the pivotal contest with a lot on his mind. Two weeks before the fight with Imavov, Cannonier’s wife suffered a miscarriage. As if that emotional blow wasn’t enough, Cannonier also experienced a medical emergency during fight camp due to a severe allergic reaction.

The middleweight contender takes little solace in the fact that so many people — from fans to peers to UFC staff — seemed to agree that he was robbed on Saturday night.

“I think [UFC officials are] all in agreement that it was a very bad stoppage, like a horrible stoppage,” Cannonier said. “I think the whole world is in agreement that that was the worst thing that could have happened that night, that fight ending the way it ended. So yes, they’re all in agreement.

“As far as any compensation, I don’t know, I want to petition for a rematch. The UFC is going to Paris in September. I would love to go to Nassourdine’s backyard and make that right. He’ll have the home field advantage, it won’t be people chanting, ‘U.S.A.’, it will be people chanting ‘français’ or however they say France in French, but that’s what I would like in order to make that right.”

Herzog is widely respected as one of the best referees in the game, but that doesn’t matter to Cannonier, who feels he was given a raw deal by the veteran official. He wondered if Herzog got caught up in the moment and made a rash decision to stop the contest.

“I don’t want to sit here and trash Jason Herzog, he’s one of the best referees in the game, but he definitely made a big mistake in this regard,” Cannonier said. “It was a huge mistake, a grave mistake, especially as far as I’m concerned. Again, I doubt they think about this — this is my career. My career was pretty much in his hands and he decided that it ain’t worth fighting for. But this is a fight.

“I think a lot of these refs need to understand that we’re going to get hit. Sometimes we’re going to get rocked, but when we’re intelligently defending ourselves like they always say, you need to step aside and let this thing happen. When there’s a clear and concise reason for you to step in, like my hands are down and I’m just getting hit over and over — not my hands are up and he’s hitting me on the guard and I’m swinging back, that’s not the time to step in. I don’t know, maybe some emotional desensitization training should be had so they don’t get super excited in these moments.”

The way Cannonier sees it, there’s only one way to make this right: Book an immediate rematch with Imavov. And based on the frustration he’s feeling right now, preferably without Herzog as the third man in the cage.

“It was a human error, I feel,” Cannonier said. “These things happen when you’re in the mix and it’s a high, intense moment. It’s unfortunate, but it’s still no excuse that I should have to live with it. So to make it right, a rematch in Paris, I think that will bring some more eyes to the fight, eyes to that card, it will be good for me. I don’t think Nassourdine would agree, but I don’t care what he thinks. I’m sure he wants to go on to his title, he wants to fight Sean Strickland and avenge that loss, but he didn’t win that fight.

“That last sequence was me vs. Nassourdine vs. Jason Herzog, and Jason Herzog got the finish in that fight, not Nassourdine. So if he wants to get that finish, if he wants to be the one to say he finished ‘Tha Killa Gorilla’ and actually finish me, then let’s do that rematch in Paris. I’ll go to your backyard and we can make it happen. That’s what I would like to have happen.”

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Oh dear
| BJPenn.com

Oleksandr Usyk unified the world heavyweight boxing titles by defeating Tyson Fury last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “The Gypsy King” was quick to invoke his rematch clause, leading to a second go-round — also in Riyadh — in late December.

If Fury is able to avenge his loss to the Ukrainian “Cat,” that would leave them tied at one apiece, setting up a potential trilogy. Unfortunately, promoters have other plans, which include former unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua.

“I think that everything we’re hearing from His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] is about the potential of ‘AJ’ fighting the winner of Fury-Usyk if [Joshua] wins in September,” promoter Eddie Hearn told talkSPORT. “Let’s be honest, if Fury wins and becomes unified [champion] again, we have to make the ‘AJ’ fight. We just have to.”

The 34 year-old Joshua is the winner of four straight, including his destruction of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou back in March. It’s worth noting that “AJ” was defeated by Usyk in back-to-back fights, first in 2021 and then again in 2022.

Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) is scheduled to return on Sept. 21 at Wembley Stadium against an opponent to be named.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady are nearing a deal to meet at an upcoming UFC Fight Night event scheduled on Sept. 7 with the welterweights potentially serving as the main event.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Monday with verbal agreements in place. No contracts have been issued or signed at this time. The bout was first reported via MMA Bets on Twitter.

Assuming the fight is finalized, Burns would return to action for the first time since falling to Jack Della Maddalena in March in a shocking turn of events after he was winning the majority of the fight. A late comeback from Della Maddalena helped the Australian secure a knockout win, which put Burns on a two-fight skid in his career.

He’ll attempt to get back in the win column in September while facing another high level grappler like Brady.

The 31-year-old Philadelphia native returns to the spotlight after an impressive submission finish over Kelvin Gastelum in his last appearance back in December 2023, which earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. That win put Brady back on track after falling to top ranked welterweight contender Belal Muhammad, which served as the first loss of his career.

Now Brady seeks his biggest win yet in the anticipated showdown against Burns in a pivotal matchup for both fighters in the welterweight division.

There’s no word yet where the proposed card on Sept. 7 would take place.

Mike Heck contributed to this report.

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