One could make the case that even if Conor McGregor didn't suffer a left leg fracture that Dustin Poirier was well on his way to winning their trilogy fight at UFC 264 this past weekend anyway.
Let's not forget the heavy elbows and punches that Poirier was pummeling McGregor with after the Irish fighter ill-advisedly went for a jumping guillotine choke in that first round. Still, McGregor's cleanly broken tibia prevented the trilogy from entering a second round, where Poirier was hellbent on further punctuating his dominance over his rival.
Nevertheless, UFC 264 will go down as Poirier winning the trilogy fight via first-round TKO due to a doctor's stoppage. And with that comes a couple of options for 'The Diamond' — one more immediate, the other down the line. DAZN News takes a look at both.
Poirier vs. UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira
Even prior to the Poirier-McGregor trilogy, it was thought that the winner of the bout would move on to challenge Oliveira for the lightweight title. Well, following his first-round TKO victory, Poirier just needs a date.
Poirier vs. Oliveira is up next.
While the bulk of Poirier's post-fight UFC 264 press conference had him addressing McGregor, he did find a moment to heap praises onto Oliveira.
"He's not just a guy in the division who happens to have the belt," Poirier said of the lightweight champion. "He's a guy who has picked himself up off the canvas time and time again, fought through adversity in two weight classes, been in the UFC a decade.
"He's not just a guy with a belt. He's earned every ounce of gold he has around his waist and I have nothing but respect for guys like that.
"I don't know him personally but his work history, I can't hate on anything he's done. It's incredible."
He added: "I respect for someone like that who has climbed back up and won a world championship."
Indeed, Oliveira, 31, had lost four of six fights during a rough patch from August 2015 to December 2017, before retooling enough to win nine straight matches highlighted by a second-round TKO of Michael Chandler to be crowned the new lightweight champion in May.
A "do Bronx" vs. "The Diamond" lightweight title fight would be a tremendous matchup.
Poirier vs. McGregor 4
Dejected due to his fractured leg, McGregor sat in the Octagon and still had the presence in mind to bellow "This is not over!" He followed that with "your wife's in me DMs" in 'Notorious' fashion.
Despite having his hand raised with a first-round TKO due to a doctor's stoppage, Poirier didn't get the closure needed from a trilogy fight that was supposed to deliver just that.
That plus the growing dislike between the two is what prompted Poirier to say "We are going to fight again, whether it's in the Octagon or on the sidewalk" during the UFC 264 post-fight press conference.
He added: "It sucks, man, because I was going to beat the guy if his leg would have held up.
"I've had a lot of fights. There's always been a definite end — well, besides the first Eddie Alvarez fight (a no contest) was kind of gray area. But it's not a good feeling. I won and I feel like what happened was because of something I did, but it's not like I went out there and submitted him or put him away."
That feeling of unfinished business warrants a fourth and final fight between Poirier and McGregor.
And while McGregor had surgery Sunday and is eyeing a lengthy recovery, getting these two back into the Octagon is imperative.
"It sucks, it's brutal, it's not the way you want to see fights end," Dana White said of McGregor's fracture forcing the abrupt stoppage. "Dustin Poirier will fight for the title and when Conor's healed and ready to go, he'll do the rematch I guess. I don't know."
It must happen.