Dustin Poirier discloses why loss to Justin Gaethje is 'tougher to digest' than Khabib Nurmagomedov defeat

In the 'BMF' title fight at UFC 291, Dustin Poirier suffered a knockout defeat from Justin Gaethje. It was his first loss in a non-lightweight title fight since 2016. Despite the setback, Poirier believes he is better than Gaethje, which has made the loss more difficult for him to accept than his loss to UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the No.2-ranked lightweight stated:

"Khabib was better than me. I lost Saturday to somebody who I think I'm better than."

When asked if that makes the loss tougher to digest, Poirier responded:

"Yeah. Yeah. I was away from home for nine weeks in training camp. I dieted 11 weeks, sacrificed so much, was really focused, man, was really, really focused, and felt great, the best I've ever felt. Honestly, the best I've ever felt."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments on Justin Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov below:

Poirier had previously suffered a submission defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov in their lightweight title clash at UFC 242. Now, while Gaethje is likely to fight for the lightweight title, Poirier's next steps are uncertain.

Both fighters, however, expressed interest in a potential trilogy bout in the future. Poirier had previously defeated Gaethje via fourth-round TKO at UFC on FOX 29 in 2018.

Dustin Poirier claims Conor McGregor 'needs to pass a drug test'

Following Dustin Poirier's UFC 291 loss to Justin Gaethje, his former foe Conor McGregor took to Twitter to take shots at both fighters while expressing an interest in facing 'The Highlight.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, 'The Diamond' weighed in on the comments from 'The Notorious', stating:

"Dude, he needs to pass a drug test. That's what he needs to do. He needs to pass a drug test and if we change the rules for him to compete to sell some pay-per-views, we make a mockery of all this they put in place, but they're the judge and the jury so they do what they want to do so we'll see."

Check out Dustin Poirier's comments on Conor McGregor below:

McGregor has not competed since breaking his leg against Poirier at UFC 264 over two years ago. The former double champ appeared set to return against Michael Chandler after the pair served as opposing coaches on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter.

While the bout had initially been targeted for December, it is unclear if 'The Notorious' will be cleared to fight as he reportedly did not enter the USADA testing pool on time.