Dustin Poirier has revealed his plans to move up to welterweight ahead of his lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira on Saturday night.
Poirier will get his second shot at the 155-pound title when he faces current champion Oliveira in the main event of UFC 269.
The Brazilian won Khabib Nurmagomedov's vacated 155-pound title in May by knocking out former Bellator standout Michael Chandler.
Poirier - who came up short against Nurmagomedov in 2019 - passed up a fight with Oliveira in May to pursue a trilogy with Conor McGregor.
He would go on to pick up another TKO win against the Irishman having knocked him out in their rematch at UFC 257 in January.
And Poirier - who previously fought at 145-pounds in the UFC - said he is "90 percent sure" he will fight at welterweight in the future.
“I’m not sure (who I could face at welterweight), we’ll see. Like we just said, getting my hand raised Saturday night, I’m gonna stay here at 55 and fight again," he told RT Sport MMA.
"I don’t know when that move to welterweight will be. But I’m pretty sure, I would say I’m 90 percent sure that before everything is said and done, that I will fight at 170 pounds in the UFC.”
“I don’t like to look that far ahead. Saturday night has to happen first, but right off the bat, I would think I’ll have to defend the belt."
Poirier moved up to lightweight in 2015 after he detailed struggles to make the 145-pound featherweight limit.
He has only lost twice at 155-pounds since the move, winning fights against former champions such as Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez and Anthony Pettis.
The UFC's welterweight division is one of the most talent-packed in the promotion, with the pound-for-pound No.1 Kamaru Usman currently holding the 170-pound title.
Who wins in the main event of UFC 269, Dustin Poirier or Charles Oliveira? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
Rising prospects such as Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Brady have also recently emerged into the rankings at 170-pounds.
But Poirier admitted he doesn't want to look past his fight with Oliveira this weekend and must concentrate on his own weight class for now.
"I mean, the whole top-10 rankings system in the UFC at lightweight is tough guys. There’s a lot of guys on long win streaks," he continued.
"There’s some up-and-comers, some new guys to the mix. There’s a lot of opponents that could be my potential next opponent, so we’ll see, man. I don’t like to look that far ahead.”
