Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) defeated Rafael Fiziev last Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 286, and he later indicated interest in reuniting with either Charles Oliveira or Poirier, who both defeated him by way of stoppage.
Gaethje was defeated by Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) via fourth-round TKO in their Fight of the Night matchup in 2018. Since then, both men have amassed a 6-2 record, with their two defeats coming in title bouts against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Oliveira. Poirier would accept the Gaethje rematch if the UFC made the offer.
“It’s a fight that makes me nervous,” Poirier told the media.
“When I hear a name and I get nervous, it’s motivation. Those are the kind of fights that – same thing with Chandler. When I heard Chandler’s name, when they called me with Michael Chandler, I was nervous, because I knew the danger of those kinds of fights, and that’s what motivates me. Same thing with Justin. If they do call me and he’s the name that they say, maybe it happens. We’ll see.”
“I’m happy, but I only fought once this year, and I don’t want that to happen again this year,” Poirier said.
“But at the same time, my life is different now. My daughter is in first grade, so a summer fight would be ideal. That way I could bring my family with me for the bulk of training camp. For this last fight with Chandler, we had to split it up. I can’t take my daughter out of school for eight, nine weeks, so that makes it a little more difficult. But summer would be good.”
