Dustin Poirier has revealed his rematch with Conor McGregor will earn him “five to 10” times more money than if he challenged Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title.

The pair are set to headline UFC 264 next Sunday in Las Vegas in a trilogy fight, with both men having won one of their previous bouts. Poirier won their most recent fight, however, back in January of this year.

Poirier – the company’s top ranked lightweight – explained his reasoning behind seeking out another clash with McGregor, despite being offered a title fight.

Speaking to ESPN, he said: “Fighting for the belt, I wouldn't have got pay-per-view, I would have got a base salary of not even one-third of my base salary for this fight, it just doesn't make sense because I'm a prizefighter.

"I don't want to put the UFC on blast, or put their numbers or the way we do deals out and make a big deal of it.

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But, if I'm making five to 10 times the amount of money to fight Conor again, I'm a father and a husband, I have priorities.

“Money is more important - I have mouths to feed.

"I made the decision pretty easily, if I am the best in the world then I'm going to beat Conor and fight for the belt, it's like doubling down on yourself.”

The 32-year-old is married to Jolie and they have a daughter together, four-year-old Parker Noelle.

He and McGregor – who have traded TKO victories – continue to be a big draw for UFC despite neither having held a title since 2019.

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He said: "I wouldn't have got pay-per-view for the title fight, the Conor fight had pay-per-view points built in, there's no question.

"I'm fighting a little bit freer; I can just go out there and fight. Whatever happens tonight, you can just perform your best and I think that helps me.

"I'm a gambling man and I believe in my skills in fighting, I just doubled down and that's all it was."

The Louisiana native believes he will win the fight if it goes beyond the first round – only giving Notorious a chance of an early victory.

The recently retired Khabib Nurmagomedov predicted a similar outcome last month, backing Poirier to win an extended battle.

Poirier said: “If I was him, I would try to touch me early and keep me out of rhythm.

"Because if this thing starts to blossom into a fight, second, third, fourth, we start hurting in there, grinding it out, and getting into a rhythm - I win that ten out of ten times.

"I want a blood and guts war and to question my will to fight. I want to be uncomfortable from the first second of the first round and I want to find out all this stuff.

"That's the thing about fighting, the only thing that's real is when that bell rings or whenever you show up and you're training, that's the only thing about fighting I love anymore."