Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz are already on the card for UFC 230, scheduled to take place on Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden. But with that card still looking for a main event, Diaz and Poirier want to turn their encounter into the debut of a whole new weight class.
Diaz and Poirier took to social media on Tuesday to announce that they would be fighting for the first ever 165-pound UFC championship, which would become the main event of UFC 230.
Fighters Push Title Plans Through Social Media
The idea of such a fight has been floated by Poirier for some time now. Earlier on Tuesday, “The Diamond” told his Twitter followers that his fight with Diaz would be a perfect main attraction for the November pay-per-view.
“I hear UFC is searching for a main event when they have one already,” Poirier wrote. “It’s me vs. Nate, 165-pound title. A main event for the people. Stop searching, Dana. We got this. Let’s go.”
The announcements on social media Tuesday evening came as a surprise to at least one man who has some say in who will headline UFC 230. UFC President Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that he was still working on finding a main event for the card, and that there were no plans to put together a 165-pound title fight.
Poirier (29-5) and Diaz (19-11) are currently scheduled to fight at 155 pounds somewhere on the main card of UFC 230. But there’s no title on the line in that fight: while Poirier and Diaz are ranked as the No. 3 and No. 10 contenders in UFC’s lightweight division respectively, it is Khabib Nurmagomedov who is the current champion in that weight class.
The undefeated Nurmagomedov will be defending his title against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on Oct. 6. The winner of the Poirier vs. Diaz fight would likely thrust themselves into the title picture, and could even be the next challenger for the lightweight championship.
White Against Adding 165-Pound Division
The request to add a new weight class isn’t coming completely out of nowhere. Last year, the Association of Boxing Commissions approved four new weight classes for MMA competition. Those included not only a 165-pound weight class, but also classes at 175 pounds, 195 pounds, and 225 pounds.
Of those four, the 165-pound weight class has gotten the most attention from fighters and fans. With lightweight fights taking place at 155 lbs. and welterweights fighting at a limit of 170 lbs., that has left a fair number of fighters feeling disadvantaged: too small to successfully compete at 170, but struggling to make weight cuts to get down to 155. However, White has shot down the idea in the past, saying it wouldn’t help fix the UFC’s issues with fighters trying to make dramatic weight cuts.
“Let’s say I add a 165-pound weight class,” White told TSN last year. “That will only mean bigger guys will try to make 165. Everybody’s always looking for an advantage.”
Currently, the fight between Poirier and Diaz is listed second on the UFC 230 card, behind only a middleweight clash between Jacare Souza and David Branch. Online bookmaker Bwin has made Poirier (-182) a favorite over Diaz (+145) in their clash.