Dustin Poirier has been told by UFC rival Islam Makhachev he is only moving up to welterweight because he won't be a lightweight champion.
Poirier came up short on his bid to win the lightweight belt when he was choked out by 155lb champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 last December.
It marked the American's second chance to win the title, having been submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov when he first competed for the belt in 2019.
'The Diamond' has been bulking up since his loss to Oliveira as he continues to tease a welterweight fight with fan favourite Nate Diaz.
And Makhachev thinks Poirier is seeking money fights as he knows he won't be a champion anymore.
"I think he just wanna make money. He knows he's not gonna be champion no more," Makhachev told Red Corner MMA.
"That's why he's thinking about money now. He just wanna choose weight in where he can make more money. This is my opinion."
Poirier was scheduled to fight Diaz in 2018 but 'The Diamond' withdrew with a hip injury and the bout was never rescheduled.
The former interim champion admitted before his fight with Oliveira there was a chance "90 per cent" of him moving up to 170-pounds in the future.
“I’m not sure (who I could face at welterweight), we’ll see. I mean, the whole top-10 rankings system in the UFC at lightweight is tough guys," Poirier told RT Sport MMA.
"There’s a lot of guys on long win streaks. There’s some up-and-comers, some new guys to the mix. There’s a lot of opponents that could be my potential next opponent, so we’ll see, man.
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"I don’t know when that move to welterweight will be. But I’m pretty sure, I would say I’m 90 per cent sure that before everything is said and done, that I will fight at 170 pounds in the UFC.”
Makhachev has been backed by his teammate and former UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov to become the next lightweight champion.
The Russian won three fights last year all by submission, last defeating top-ranked lightweight Dan Hooker at UFC 267 in the first round.
Makhchaev has seemingly backed Oliveira to defend his title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 in May, as he plans to dethrone the Brazilian of his belt by the end of the year.
"I think Charles Oliveira he is champion now and he shows good skills the last couple of fights. That's why I think end of this year I'm gonna beat him in Abu Dhabi," Makhachev added.
