When terms were being negotiated for his trilogy bout against Conor McGregor at UFC 264 later this month, Dustin Poirier had one request that company brass refused to accommodate.
Poirier and McGregor will meet for a third time in Las Vegas on July 10, with each man currently holding a victory over the other. Firstly, at UFC 178 in September 2014, 'Notorious' dismantled the American inside of two minutes in a featherweight contest.
'The Diamond', though avenged that loss earlier this year at UFC 257 up in the 155-pound lightweight division. Poirier picked McGregor apart with devastating calf kicks, before securing a shock second-round stoppage victory with strikes.
Given how well their second fight went for Poirier, most would assume that he would be more than happy to be meeting the Irish superstar again under the same exact conditions.
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Surprisingly, however, Poirier recently revealed to ESPN that he had pushed for the pair's upcoming clash to take place at welterweight.
"I'm trying to show that January wasn't a fluke," said Poirier, per themirror.co.uk. "He's trying to show that he's still relevant and still wants to be the world champion at 155 lbs.
"I was pushing to fight at a heavier weight, I wanted to fight at 170. I didn't want to cut down to 155 again, but he wanted to do it at 155."
Whether former interim lightweight champion Poirier just wanted the satisfaction of beating his rival in a different weight class - or is now struggling to make the weight limit for the 155 lb division - is unknown. What Poirier did confirm, though, is that the UFC was very firm on where it felt the bout should take place.
"The UFC wanted it at 155, so I know what that means, it means that the winner of this fight is going to fight for the belt."
Had Poirier been successful in landing the fight at welterweight, he would have been going up against a man in McGregor who is 2-1 in the weight class as a UFC competitor. The company's biggest star split a pair of bouts with Nate Diaz at 170 lbs in 2016, before returning to the division to smash Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020.
While he and McGregor have had a strained relationship over the years, one thing that Poirier does admire about the former two-division world champion is his desire to still compete, despite being financially set for life. Poirier feels it is this drive that makes McGregor such a "dangerous" opponent.
"He's doing this not because he has to but because he wants to, and that shows me that he's motivated and he's not going out there to collect a cheque or lose.
"He's not just showing up for work, he wants to show the world that he's the best and that motivates me to show up at my best because that's a dangerous man right there," admitted Poirier.
We are now less than two weeks away from finding out whether McGregor can recapture the form which propelled him to stardom. If Poirier has anything to say about it, however, it could be another tough night at the office for the Irishman.