Dustin
Poirier continues teasing a return to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Poirier hung up his gloves following a loss to Max
Holloway last year. “The Diamond†has since repeatedly admitted
that he dearly misses fighting. He even says he would consider
returning to the Octagon for the right matchup.

Meanwhile, Poirier's former rival Conor
McGregor returned to the Octagon after five years against
Holloway at
UFC 329 in Las Vegas. The fight ended in a first-round stoppage
loss for McGregor after he blew out his knee throwing a jumping
head kick.

Dustin Poirier says a welterweight fight with Conor McGregor
could bring him back to the UFC

While McGregor claims he intends to complete the last fight
remaining on his UFC contract, Poirier is willing to end his
retirement for a fourth outing against the Dubliner. Furthermore,
Poirier is also open to moving up to welterweight to fight
McGregor, as their previous bouts were at featherweight and
lightweight.

“Whenever he is healed up, hit me up, Conor,†Poirier said on the
UFC's “Deep Waters†podcast. “I’ll come back and whip you again. I
would come back to whip him again. At 170.â€

Poirier (30-10) suffered a first-round stoppage loss against
McGregor (22-7) in their first outing, at featherweight, in 2014.
He exacted revenge by knocking out McGregor in their lightweight
rematch in 2021. The two met in a rubber match later that year,
where McGregor broke his leg, leading to a stoppage loss.

While McGregor was sidelined since then, Poirier went 2-4 against
elite opponents, also making two failed bids for the lightweight
title before retiring.

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Cory
Sandhagen's hamstring is a mess after his loss against Mario
Bautista.

Sandhagen (18-7) took on Bautista (18-3) in a bantamweight bout at

UFC 329 in Las Vegas. While they were going toe-to-toe in the
first round, Bautista caught Sandhagen in a kneebar late in the
round, hyperextending his left leg. While “The Sandman†survived
the round, he immediately informed his corner that his leg was
compromised.

Despite Sandhagen's movement being evidently limited, he
surprisingly out-landed Bautista in the second round. The latter
then dropped Sandhagen in the third frame and accumulated control
time to earn a unanimous decision win.

Sandhagen details how a suspected hamstring tear altered his
game plan

Sandhagen has since revealed a gruesome injury to his hamstring
from Bautista's submission attempt. He believes he tore his
hamstring in the opening round, limiting his arsenal for the rest
of the fight. The 34-year-old notes that fighting at the top level
allows little margin of error.

“Frickin bummer man. Losing in fighting is the most embarrassing
thing ever. Sucks,†Sandhagen wrote on Instagram. “Pretty sure the
kneebar tore my hamstring in the first (getting MRI this week). It
kept locking out weird if I did certain things. So that kind of
messed up my game plan. Congrats to Mario. He was well prepared.
1st was close but he won it with that knee bar. 2nd, I won
(surprisingly cause leg was jacked). 3rd, I wanted to have the same
round as before but got dropped. Gotta fight near perfect to win at
the top. Something I need to get better at. Appreciate the love
from you guys. Enjoy your week. Love you. Peace.â€

This was Sandhagen's second loss on the trot, following a failed
title bid against Merab
Dvalishvili this past October. Meanwhile, Bautista has only
lost to Umar
Nurmagomedov in 11 outings since 2022 and has since rebounded
with back-to-back wins.

A lightweight matchup for the next
Ultimate Fighting Championship card in Paris has been
unveiled.

Trevor
Peek will take on Kurtis
Campbell in a featherweight bout at UFC
Paris on Sept. 5 at Accor Arena in Paris.

Trevor Peek and Kurtis Campbell meet in a featherweight bout at
UFC Paris on Sept. 5

While Peek (9-3) came to the UFC as a highly touted prospect in
2022, he's struggled for consistency, going 2-3 in the UFC and
currently on a two-fight slump. Meanwhile, Campbell (8-1) was also
undefeated when he earned his contract with a first-round knockout
on the Contender Series last year.

He was also a big betting favorite going into his UFC debut against
Danny
Silva in front of a home crowd in London this past March. While
Campbell was leading in the first round, Silva handed the
Englishman his first professional loss with a knockout early in the
second.

The only other matchup slated for UFC Paris revealed so far is a
flyweight clash between Michael
Aljarouj and Fabia
Sintes, with both 125-pounders set to make their Octagon
debuts.

New fight: Trevor Peek
vs. Kurtis
Campbell is set for #UFCParis
on Sept. 5, multiple sources tell me and @MikeBohn. Story
headed to @MMAjunkie
pic.twitter.com/PAzyvXkBwb

— Nolan King (@mma_kings)
July 13, 2026