Eddie Alvarez Explains Where Dustin Poirier’s ‘Bitterness’ Comes From
Lightweight contenders Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier did battle at UFC 211 last May in what was expected to be a back-and-forth war. And it was exactly that until it was called off following an illegal knee from Alvarez that left Poirier unable to compete. The bout was ultimately ruled a no-contest.
Since then, Poirier has claimed that Alvarez has been avoiding him and turning down offers for a rematch, but the former UFC titleholder said that’s ‘silly talk’:
“The thought of ducking or not signing, that’s just silly talk,” Alvarez said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour.
Explaining his side of the story, Alvarez recalls that he accepted a gig coaching on The Ultimate Fighter against Justin Gaethje as opposed to accepting a rematch against Poirier, which is where he believes “The Diamond’s” comments stem from:
“I believe I was offered Dustin the first time he was angry,” Alvarez said. “But I was given The Ultimate Fighter show, and I think that’s where all his bitterness comes from. I think he wanted to be on The Ultimate Fighter show, they gave me the gig, and I got paid well for that, and I got a very good opponent. So I basically got a better opportunity than Dustin Poirier and I took it. If that’s ducking, then I’m ducking, yes, But I’ll always take more money and a better opponent over someone else any day of the week.”
Continuing on, Alvarez also said that he never received a bout agreement for a rematch with Poirier. With one fight left on his UFC deal, the focus has been on re-signing with the promotion, which hasn’t happened yet:
“We spoke about it. But the only thing spoken about after Justin Gaethje was re-signing with the UFC,” he said. “I never got an opponent or a bout agreement. They never said ‘here’s a bout agreement for an opponent.’ The only thing we spoke of was re-signing and we haven’t come to that agreement yet. So I’m guessing there’s not going to be an opponent or a bout agreement in the mail unless I’m ready to re-sign. So when we come to agreement to re-sign, then I’m sure there will be a bout agreement in the mail.”
If the former champion can get a deal done with the UFC, would you like to see him and Poirier run it back?
