Dustin Poirier Explains 'Miscommunication' Regarding Benoit St. Denis Booking

Dustin Poirier is glad to have his booking against Benoit St. Denis still in place after a brief period of confusion where it appeared to have fallen through.

Poirier is scheduled to face St. Denis in the co-main event at UFC 299 on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. This past Thursday Poirier announced that the fight was off, with his teammate Johnny Eblen subsequently accusing the Ultimate Fighting Championship of being “stingy.”

A few hours later, “The Diamond” revealed that the fight was back on after a conversation with his manager that seemingly cleared a “misunderstanding” with the promotion. While the perennial lightweight contender didn’t divulge much about what went down behind the scenes, he is glad to have the booking in place.

“I don’t want to dive too deep into it. There was some miscommunication — not everybody was on the same page, and I couldn’t get a hold of somebody, and things got a little bit confusing for me, and I was waiting to hear something. But it is what it is, fight’s on,” Poirier said on “The MMA Hour.”

Despite no title implications, the UFC 299 co-main event is scheduled for five rounds, which isn’t unheard of but rather uncommon. According to “The Diamond, ” he insisted on a five-rounder because he believes he will have an advantage as the fight progresses.

“I feel like the better fighter, unless something crazy happens early, the better fighter wins over five rounds,” he said. “Even if he doesn’t fatigue, or even if it’s not deep waters to him, he’s the god of war. That’s what he wants. I feel like the rhythm, timing, my experience, I pick up on that stuff the longer the fight goes, and I’ll find openings.”

Poirier also revealed that he was originally offered a slot on the highly-anticipated UFC 300 card in April. However, the co-main slot at UFC 299 made more sense to Poirier than a potential card opener at UFC 300.

“I was talking with [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell], and we were like, maybe the opening of the [UFC 300] pay-per-view, maybe the second fight of the pay-per-view. And then [UFC 299] we started talking about, and to be the co-main event, [and] I’m like, that’s a much bigger slot. It’s close to my training camp, it’s close to home. ... So just I wanted to be part of 300, but this just made more sense, I think.”

Poirier is coming off a Round 1 knockout loss against Justin Gaethje in July, which could explain his underdog status against the “God of War,” who has finished all of his career wins. Regardless, Poirier isn’t fazed by public opinion or the oddsmaker’s predictions.

“I’m 35, he’s 28. He finished five guys in a row. He’s finishing all of his wins in his career,” Poirier said. “Maybe that’s why, I don’t know. My whole life, I’ve been an underdog. This is where I performed the best.”