Dustin Poirier thought a rematch with Eddie Alvarez was the obvious option following their controversial lightweight meeting at UFC 211 being ruled a no-contest.
At the end of the second round, the fight was stopped when Alvarez landed illegal knees to the head of the downed Poirier at the end of the second round.
Despite illegal techniques being used on Poirier, and ‘The Diamond’ being deemed unable to continue because of the knees, the fight was ruled a no-contest instead of a disqualification.
Alvarez was a later announced as a coach for the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter alongside Justin Gaethje, which came as a surprise to Poirier.
“I was shocked because I found like everyone else did, through social media,” Poirier told Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “Nobody called me or let me know what was going on.”
As far as Poirier was concerned, everything had already been put in place for him to get his rematch against Alvarez. With that in mind, the ATT man claimed that Alvarez being given a TUF coaching call-up was “a slap in the face”.
“I’ve had talks with my management and with the UFC. We were going to get the rematch, that’s what the game plan was. So it was really a slap in the face.”
He added: “From my side, Eddie’s side and UFC — we all said that (the rematch) was the plan. It was going to happen we just had to figure out what day we were going to do it, and then this happened.
“Really, it’s crazy. I’m not trying to chase it down or to connect the dots as to why it has happened, but as I said, it’s a slap in the face.
“I don’t know how I beat the former champ – the No. 3 ranked guy in the division – I beat him up for nine of 10 minutes and now we just move on as if the fight never happened. Nobody talks about it.
“I don’t get paid my win money, all this sh*t happens and then they just keep it going.”
Poirier revealed that he appealed the decision of the Alvarez fight with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, but failed to have the decision overturned.
Commenting on Alvarez, Poirier suggested that the former lightweight champion does not want to fight him again.
“He probably doesn’t want the fight again. (UFC) offered him another fight and he jumped on it,” he said.
“It’s a better business decision for him. He doesn’t have to fight me again. He can go and do a TV show and try to make some money. He’ll get another main event with some hype. He’ll make a lot of money, probably. I understand the business decision.”
‘The Diamond’ also stated that he has lost a lot of respect for Alvarez as a person for taking the TUF role.
“Growing up, I used to watch Eddie’s specials on HDNet. I used to watch his fights on DREAM. I was a big fan. I liked the guy. I liked his fighting style and I still respect his skills, but as a person, he’s nothing to me anymore.”
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