Poirier says ‘there’s always a chance’ he’ll fight Ferguson; just not at UFC 254

Dustin Poirier is reportedly out of his UFC 254 co-headlining bout with Tony Ferguson, but the former interim lightweight champion isn’t willing to rule out the possibly of fighting ‘El Cucuy’ at a later date — it just won’t happen next month.

“There’s always a chance just not looking like it’s going to happen next month,” Poirier posted on Friday.

Details are sparse, but it’s thought that ‘The Diamond’ pulled out of UFC 254 because he didn’t feel adequately compensated as a prize fighter. Poirier had previously stated that he would only accept the Ferguson bout for the right price.

“I just need to be compensated if they want this fight. Simple as that. I’m a prize fighter and the prize needs to be right,” he said.

Poirier scintillated fans earlier this year with a memorable Fight of the Night performance against Dan Hooker, beating ‘The Hangman’ via unanimous decision after five hard-fought rounds in the UFC Vegas 4 main event.

Ferguson, meanwhile, is looking to rebound from his fifth-round TKO loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249, which saw the MMA veteran come up short of UFC gold and the chance to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout.

UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje will take place on Oct. 24 at the UFC Fight Island facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.