Dustin Poirier is OUT of UFC 230 fight with Nate Diaz

Just when we thought the drama surrounding UFC 230 was just starting to settle, the MMA Gods decided to let their presence be felt. Dustin Poirier has been removed from his planned bout v. Nate Diaz inside Madison Square Garden due to an undisclosed injury.

Breaking: Dustin Poirier has suffered an undisclosed injury, per multiple sources. He is off UFC 230 co-main event against Nate Diaz in New York.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 10, 2018

The UFC will now need to confirm a new co-main event bout. If they don’t add another match, the planned Chris Weidman v. Luke Rockhold rematch could fill the void.

This news comes just a short time after the UFC announced the main event of the show will be Daniel Cormier v. Derrick Lewis for the UFC Heavyweight Title. The road to get to this event has ended for Poirier after an interesting journey.

Poirier (24-5, 1 NC) was on a three-fight win streak and won eight of his last nine fights. After knocking out Eddie Alvarez earlier this year, he moved up in the lightweight rankings. A bout with Diaz (19-11) was inevitable, especially with a tight title picture.

There was still hope beforehand, from the fans to the fighters, that this bout would be the main event. Both Nate and Dustin campaigned for a new weight class to accommodate other fighters. They were quickly denied by UFC brass. While it wasn’t meant to be the main event, it felt like one. The treatment of this fight and this card made it easy to feel like anything could happen.

The MMA Gods decided to punish the UFC for neglecting this card for so long. #UFC230

— Alex Scaffidi (@alexscaffidi_) October 10, 2018