UFC star Dustin Poirier has confirmed that he’s currently working on his return to the Octagon.

When you talk about popular fighters on the UFC roster, and in mixed martial arts in general, Dustin Poirier has to be located towards the top of that list. The Louisiana native has had an incredible career in the promotion and at the age of 33, he still has a lot of time left on the clock if he so desires.

His most recent outing, though, served as one of his most devastating, as he fell to a submission defeat against Charles Oliveira back at UFC 269.

The loss marked the second time he’d been beaten in an undisputed lightweight title bout and although he’s a former interim champion, he’s still as hungry as he’s ever been to go all the way and finally achieve his lifelong dream.

‘The Diamond’ has been absent for seven months now, leaving many fans to wonder when he’ll return to the Octagon - but as per the man himself, he’s working hard in an attempt to get back in there.

“I’m working on it!”

No official opponent has been confirmed for his return but based on the state of play at 155 pounds, we’d say we’ve got a few ideas.

Who’s next?

You could certainly make the argument that Poirier is just one impressive win away from another crack at the championship and at the bare minimum, two wins would do the trick.

Nate Diaz is a man he’s been chasing for quite some time but the UFC hasn’t been overly eager in getting that booked. He could also square off against Justin Gaethje, a man who was also submitted by the aforementioned Oliveira just a matter of months ago.

Alas, above all of the noise and confusion, one man stands head and shoulders above the rest as the clear candidate: Michael Chandler.

The former Bellator champion is 2-2 since entering the UFC but all four of those fights have been absolute barnburners, and even that may be an understatement.

‘Iron Mike’ and Poirier have been exchanging words over social media and through various interviews recently but things really blew up at UFC 276 earlier this month when they had to be separated by security guards in Las Vegas.

From a storyline standpoint, this makes all the sense in the world.