Dustin Poirier may be retired, but there's one fight that still has him lacing up his gloves—and it's the one that got away. The former interim UFC lightweight champion is still itching to settle the score with Nate Diaz, a rivalry that never quite made it to the cage.

The two were originally scheduled to throw down at UFC 230 in November 2018, but the bout was scrapped after Poirier suffered a hip injury. Now, "The Diamond" is setting the record straight: he didn't pull out, he just refused to fight anyone else. "Man, I still want to whip Nate's ass," Poirier said on UFC on Paramount+. "I'll come back to fight him because it got away, and he lied, and the fans were on his side."

Poirier explained that the UFC offered him other opponents—including Kevin Lee—but he held out for Diaz. When the promotion couldn't make it happen, he opted for hip surgery instead. "I never pulled out. I just didn't want to fight anyone but Nate," he added.

While Poirier waits in the wings, Diaz is taking his talents elsewhere. The Stockton legend will face fellow ex-UFC star Mike Perry on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, headlining MVP's inaugural MMA card on Netflix. But if Diaz ever wants to return to the Octagon, Poirier will be ready—and he's not shy about what he wants to do. For fans who love the grit and bad blood of combat sports, this is a matchup that still feels like unfinished business.