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Dustin Poirier had a five-round war on UFC on ESPN 12 where he defeated Dan Hooker by unanimous decision. Dustin Poirier is considered one of the best Lightweights in the world and we can't think of the last time he had a boring fight.
Despite this, Dustin Poirier reportedly took home $300,000 and an additional $50,000 as the Fight of the Night bonus. For a fighter of Dustin Poirier's level and experience, it's not unfair to say that he should be getting a lot more for all that he gives and has given to the UFC and his fans.
Dustin Poirier's coach Mike Brown echoed the sentiment on The Luke Thomas Show on Sirius XM, stating that The Diamond deserves a title shot next and a million-dollar payday (H/T MyMMANews.com):
“In a perfect world if Gaethje wins [against Khabib Nurmagomedov], in a perfect world, that’s what would happen. That would be everything going best-case scenario, but whoever he fights, he deserves a raise and deserves a lot of money for what he’s doing. Every time it’s craziness. Every fight is wild. There’s never a boring minute. I think he deserves a million-dollar payday.”
He said that it's not good to take as much damage as he does every fight, which is what gives an additional incentive for him to get paid better:
“Yeah this is not good for you,” Brown said. “This is why this guy deserves a lot of money, this guy deserves to be paid. We all want to see him. As a fight fan, him and Gaethje are the two most exciting guys in the organization. They went head-to-head already and it was Fight Of The Year. I mean every fight for him is a Fight Of The Year candidate. It’s concerning because you don’t know which one will be the last one. These guys are doing a lot of damage to each other. It’s definitely not good for you.”
What American Top Team head coach Mike Brown said is true. Dustin Poirier is one of the most entertaining fighters on the roster and deserves to be compensated for all that he puts in. At the end of the day, we mustn't forget that Poirier and every MMA fighter puts their life on the line when they step inside the cage or octagon.
What's next for Dustin Poirier?
Ariel Helwani suggested that Dustin Poirier vs Tony Ferguson would be the perfect match-up to make now. Poirier responded by telling Helwani to give him time to recover first.
Either way, the Lightweight division is only going to get more exciting. The next major fight is Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje - expected to happen at UFC 253.
