Alexander Volkanovski vs. Dustin Poirier is the right fight to make

After Dustin Poirier lost at UFC 302 we all figured he would retire. He'd been hinting that might happen and we as fans just aren't ready for that yet. He's not like Tony Ferguson on a massive losing streak. He's still putting on amazing fights at a high level. Of course, if he is ready, he's ready, but we hope he considers the offer that came through late last night.

Former multiple time UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski threw his hat in the race for Poirier's next opponent and frankly, it makes a ton of sense. Volkanovski has fought at lightweight twice before but is on a bit of a skid at the moment. Moving up to lightweight to fight Poirier would be fun for the fans and a big enough fight that it might entice Poirier to delay his retirement.

“He thinks he might be retiring, not sure,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Maybe, just maybe, depending on what I’m doing — obviously, I want to fight later in the year, I don’t know exactly what’s happening, I don’t want to wait too long either — so if the timing works out, maybe me and Dustin can have a good fight. I know he just wants good fights. Obviously, [we] have a lot of respect for each other, and I think that would be a massive fight.

Alexander Volkanovski wants to fight Dustin Poirier and we love the idea

Volkanovski needs a win if he wants to put his name forward for another title shot and Poirier needs a good name to make him stick around a bit longer.

“Dustin, you’re a legend,” Volkanovski said. “Keep your head up. It was a great performance, still, and maybe we could have a little fun in there, have a little dance. Let me know what you think.”

At press time, Poirier hadn't made an official decision about retirement and we desperately hope he at least considers this fight with Voklanovski. They both recently fought Islam Makhachev too, so it could be an interesting case study to see how they do versus each other. Not to mention Poirier and Volkanovski are two of the most well-liked, polite, nice guys in the UFC. The fight would be all respect and true warrior testing their skills.