Dustin Poirier explains new willingness to fight Colby Covington: ‘He’s everything I dislike about mixed martial arts’

Dustin Poirier has been reluctant to try and shut up Colby Covington inside the Octagon.

Never one to shy away from sharing his thoughts — negative or positive — Covington has directed verbal jabs aplenty toward his former teammate in recent months. Following his recent victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 in March 2022 (watch highlights), Covington made it clear he wanted “The Diamond” next.

“He’s everything I dislike about mixed martial arts,” Poirier said of Covington on The MMA Hour (h/t MMA Junkie). “He’s a cartoon character. Everything he does is for an extra click, view. None of it’s authentic. He can wrestle. He’s tough. I’ve been around him for years, I know him from being around the gym with him since 2012, 2013ish. He’s just a fake, a phony.

“It’s messed up,” he continued. “You don’t talk about other people’s family, but then again I know it’s an act and a character. But, there are lines that are being crossed. I think guys do that. Same thing with Conor [McGregor]. Talking about my wife. These guys know I don’t give a f—k about that stuff no more. I said that after I knocked Conor’s ass out in Dubai. … So they’re trying to attach things that they know I do care about, which is my family, my daughter.”

Poirier isn’t the only fighter not too keen on Covington’s antics. Take Poirier’s current teammate, Masvidal, for example, who despite his loss went to the extent of allegedly attacking Covington on the streets weeks after their in-cage encounter.

While Poirier most certainly admits to wanting to get his hands on “Chaos,” he simply doesn’t want the outspoken former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Welterweight champion to benefit from a meeting between the two.

“I don’t hate anyone,” Poirier said. “But, if there was a line before hate, Colby’s standing there. I really dislike the guy and I’ve been saying I don’t want him to make a dollar off of fighting me. They offered me him last week.… It was either way until the end of the year and fight for a No. 1 contender at Lightweight, or it’s the end of July and that’s the name that they gave me. It’s not a callout of him. I’m not going out of my way. I don’t want to fight the guy. I don’t want him profiting anything off of me. But if they’re not going to give me a fight until the end of the year and this is what you’re giving me, I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. I don’t want to sit in a holding pattern. I fought in December, I don’t want to sit in a holding pattern for 10, 11 months.

“I’m kind of pissed off at myself for saying I would do it,” he continued. “Not that I’m worried about the guy or his skillset or anything like that. I just don’t want the f—king guy to prosper because I said yes to a fight with him. I don’t want that. I don’t want him to make a dollar off of anything I’ve done, or fighting me, period. But, you get a glass of whiskey in you. They call you a couple days before. S—t happens, and then you fight. So f—k it. At least if it’s a fight that happens, it’s not a fight I’m going to take any damage in with this f—king guy.”

Poirier’s last time out saw him fall short in his second career undisputed UFC title shot at Lightweight against Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in Dec. 2021. He suffered defeat via a third round rear-naked choke submission (watch highlights).