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Former UFC interim lightweight champion, Dustin 'The Diamond' Poirier was aiming at a return to the Octagon sometime early next year but he recently announced that he will be out of action for a longer period of time due to a hip surgery in order to treat a persistent hip injury.
Poirier will soon be operated for multiple tears in the labrum and his femur bone also requires reshaping in order to ensure that it does not create further tears. (h/t MMA Fighting)
Poirier said that he will be out of action for six to eight weeks which means that his imminent return will be postponed to sometime in the month of March/April.
Poirier's last bout in the Octagon was against reigning UFC Lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi where he succumbed to a submission in the third round. Although the fight against Nurmagomedov ended in disappointment for Poirier, he amassed a massive $260,000 for his charity, “The Good Fight Foundation”, with both Khabib and UFC President Dana White donating $100,000 to the foundation.
Since the loss against Nurmagomedov, Poirier has time and again expressed his desire to run it back with former two-division champion Conor McGregor in a rematch of their 2014 bout at UFC 178 where the Irishman knocked out The Diamond in the first round. However, McGregor did not seem even remotely interested in the rematch which led to Poirier deciding to take some time out of the sport to heal himself.
Dan 'The Hangman' Hooker, who beat Al Iaquinta at UFC 243 had recently called out Poirier only to be rejected by the latter. Poirier has also shown interest in following the footsteps of his colleague McGregor in crossing over to the boxing ring with Zuffa Boxing set to hit the ground running.
Who do you think Poirier should go up against on his return? Let us know in the comments section below.
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