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Dustin Poirier has overtaken former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones on the pound-for-pound list in the latest UFC rankings update.
'The Diamond', whose last bout was an unsuccessful lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira, has seemingly been rewarded for his consistency and appearances as he stepped into the octagon three times in 2021.
Poirier's two TKO stoppages over Conor McGregor last year are sure to be the reason he has been cemented as the new No.7 male pound-for-pound fighter, although many will question why the change has been made four months beyond his last fight.
Jon Jones, referred to by many as the greatest of all time, is likely paying the price for his out-of-cage antics, which have limited his appearances in the octagon. His last appearance in the cage was over two years ago. 'Bones' is expected to make his return to the UFC at heavyweight, likely to face former champion Stipe Miocic.
Welterweight contender Belal Muhammad's unanimous decision victory over Vicente Luque this past weekend has meant the two fighters have switched positions in the rankings. Muhammad now sits at No.5 in the division.
Elsewhere, Jack Shore has moved into the bantamweight rankings for the first time, having extended his unbeaten record at UFC London last month. With his arrival, Raphael Assucano has fallen out of the top 15.
In the women's bantamweight division, Pannie Kianzad's unanimous decision victory over Lina Lansberg has moved her up two places to No.10. With that, Lansberg and Macy Chiasson have both fallen to No.11 and No.12, respectively.
Dustin Poirier's next UFC opponent
Many have questioned what Dustin Poirier's next move will be after he failed to capture the lightweight title again.
Charles 'Do Bronx' Oliveira remains the champion and it would seem strange to give Poirier an immediate rematch after he was beaten convincingly by the Brazilian. Poirier also seems unwilling to make another cut to 155 pounds.
Since the start of the year, Dustin Poirier has repeatedly called for a fight against Nate Diaz at welterweight. While the promotion seemed up for booking the fan favorite contest, 'The Diamond' recently claimed he's heard nothing about the matchup coming together.
At a recent press conference, Dana White even appeared to shut down talk of the bout coming together, suggesting that the UFC is moving on from it.
The fight would be the last on Nate Diaz's current contract with the UFC and it seems unlikely that he'll decide to re-sign with the promotion. All we know is that both Diaz and Poirier have been vocal about wanting this fight. It remains to be seen if the UFC will make it happen.
