Henry Cejudo: Dustin Poirier will retire if he wins title at UFC 269, skip Justin Gaethje rematch

After Dustin Poirier lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, people thought “The Diamond” would retire from the fight game given these post-fight comments. After he defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 257, eyebrows were raised again after Poirier suggested he “didn’t like fighting anymore.”

Since then, Justin Gaethje has come out and declared that should Poirier defeat Charles Oliveira and win the Lightweight title at UFC 269 this weekend (Sat., Dec. 11, 2021), he will walk away from the sport instead of facing him again. Now, another former champion is sharing the same sentiment.

During an interview on the “The Triple C & Schmo Show,” Henry Cejudo also predicted that Poirier would retire if he proves victorious against “Do Bronx.”

“I do believe that Poirier wins. You heard it here first, I do believe he will retire. Because when a fighter starts thinking about retirement, it’s true, you should retire, and I feel Dustin Poirier wins, I think he wants to leave on top,” he added (transcribed by MMA Junkie).

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Furthermore, “Triple C” firmly believes “The Diamond” doesn’t want a rematch against Geathje even though he knocked him out in their first encounter three years ago. According to Cejudo, seeing firsthand the damage he took in the first fight is enough to convince him it won’t happen again.

“I don’t think he wants to fight Justin Gaethje,” Cejudo said. “I really don’t. I don’t think so. No, I was there at that (first Poirier vs. Gaethje) fight in Phoenix. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t retire. But, when somebody thinks about retirement, you might as well do it, and I think Dustin Poirier, if he wins, he will retire. You heard it here first from king ‘Triple C.’”

Of course, Cejudo and Gaethje are good friends and are both managed by Ali Abdelaziz, so his comments aren’t too surprising. Still, Poirier has since confirmed that he has no plans to walk away from the fight game because he still has plenty of “ass whoopings” to hand out, continuing with Oliveira.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 269 fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

For more news and notes on UFC 269 be sure to visit our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated, revised and finalized UFC 269 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.