Paddy Pimblett is confused by Dustin Poirier’s decision to retire.
Poirier plans for one more fight this summer in his home state of Louisiana before hanging up his gloves. He was previously asked about Pimblett as a potential opponent, but said he’s targeting legends only.
Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who meets Michael Chandler in the UFC 314 co-main event April 12 in Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+), thinks Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) still has a lot of fight left in him.
“He said something about me the other day didn’t he? Saying it’s legends only and he thinks Chandler will beat me,” Pimblett told ESPN Deportes. “I think he should have more than one fight (before he retires). He looked good in his last fight. I don’t understand why you’d retire when you look good, but you know, he must be an idiot. I think I beat Dustin Poirier so, I’d love to fight him.”
Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 this past November. The win put Oliveira back in the title race, so Pimblett hopes beating Chandler can do the same for him.
“Charles, he just beat Chandler,” Pimblett said. “If Charles gets a title shot off beating Chandler, I want a title shot when I beat Chandler.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 314: Paddy Pimblett thinks ‘idiot’ Dustin Poirier is retiring prematurely
