UFC legend Chael Sonnen believes Dustin Poirier is prioritising a chase for Conor McGregor "status" over a potential title charge.
'The Diamond' returned to the octagon for the first time since losing in his title challenge against former 155lb champion Charles Oliveira at the end of last year. He choked out rival Michael Chandler in devastating fashion to reignite a new challenge to push towards the division king who is currently Islam Makhachev.
Poirier has gained popularity since his two most recent fights with the UFC's biggest superstar Conor McGregor which he won in dominant fashion. And former UFC title challenger Sonnen believes Poirier will now be chasing mega fights as opposed to focusing solely on winning the lightweight crown.
“Dustin Poirier right now is not on a mission to be champion,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel when assessing Poirier's latest stoppage win over Chandler. "And to become champion is very realistic; that’s not the statement I’m making.
"Dustin Poirier’s No. 1 goal right now is not to reclaim his championship. He wants to go into a category. It’s the elite of the elite.
"It’s a category so high that when you start training, you don’t even set a goal to do. There’s one more category above champion – one category, and that is when the outcome of your fight doesn’t matter.
"When you get to a level of popularity where the outcome of your match no longer matters. The next time you come out, the crowd will be sold out, and you will be in the main event. Even if you’re coming off of a loss, your next fight will be the main event.
"I’m talking about a Conor McGregor status. He wants to do super-fights. He wants to do massive fights and the title be damned. He’s already got one. He’s got one sitting in his mantle at home.
"He will go down in the record books if he never fights again as a champion of the world, which he was. He wants to go into this different realm.”
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McGregor's fights with Poirier drew huge pay-per-view numbers which saw the fights placed in the top 10 of the best-selling events in UFC history. A fourth fight has regularly been discussed despite McGregor currently being out of action after breaking his leg in their trilogy defeat last year.
Poirier previously suggested he would be focused on a title charge and dismissed any shot of a fourth showdown being secured when McGregor returns. However, he reopened the door in the build-up to his recent win over Chandler, suggesting he would never say never. “I’m not sure,” Poirier said.
“You never know in this sport. I don’t know if he’s coming back, what weight class, I’m not sure. Never say never, but it’s not looking like it in the near future. We’ll see. I fought him three times. I’m trying to get to the title.”
