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Dustin Poirier says the thought of finally becoming a UFC world champion on Saturday “gives me chills”.

Now Poirier has his second shot at the lightweight championship as he challenges current title holder Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in Las Vegas.

“I want it so bad,” he said. “I have to check that box. That’s forever.”

Claiming the interim belt put Poirier in line for his first shot at becoming lightweight champion in 2019, but he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, three wins since have rewarded Poirier, who runs a charitable organisation with his wife Jolie and has his own brand of Louisiana hot sauce, with another chance to become a world champion.

“If I do it, I’ve done it all in the sport, everything I set out to do,” added Poirer.

“I’ve set my family up, I have other businesses outside of fighting, but this would cement everything. It’s very important to me and my wife.

“I was saying it was 25 minutes to make life fair [by becoming interim champion]. This is 25 minutes for eternity. You don’t take that away. Once a champion, always a champion.”

McGregor gamble pays off for Poirier

After losing to Nurmagomedov, Poirier returned in 2020 to beat Dan Hooker and in January 2021 avenged his 2014 defeat by Conor McGregor.

With the lightweight title vacant after Nurmagomedov retired unbeaten in 2020, Poirier then turned down the chance to face Oliveira for the belt in favour of completing his trilogy with McGregor.

Oliveira beat Michael Chandler in May to end his long wait for a UFC belt, while Poirier beat McGregor for the second time in six months. Had he lost, Poirier could have waved goodbye to his last chance of becoming a world champion.

“I knew that, I gambled on myself,” he said. “Every fight is a roll of the dice, no matter how prepared you are. This sport is crazy, but it all worked out.”

Both 32, Poirier and Oliveira both made their UFC debut just over 10 years ago and had to recover from various defeats before finally getting their hands on UFC gold.

And with both having been around for so long, this weekend they’ll set the record for the combined number of fights, wins, finishes and bonuses for the two opponents in a UFC title fight.

“We’ve been in the same waters for the last decade,” reflected Poirier. “There’s a list of guys that when they won a belt, it was special to me. Oliveira’s on that list. Michael Bisping is another, and Robbie Lawler.

“They were underdogs, guys who have been counted out and made it happen. I’m trying to add my name to that list.”

‘I sent a message to the division that I can do it all’

Oliveira holds the UFC record for most submissions (14) and most finishes (17), and since losing to Paul Felder in 2017, a nine-fight win streak has propelled the Brazilian to an impressive 31-8 record.

“He’s very dangerous,” admitted Poirier (28-6). “His submission game, numbers don’t lie, he’s one of the most dangerous ever to hit the canvas in the UFC.

“We didn’t put that aside in training camp. We really focused on defence and fight IQ on the ground, where I’m at in each round and the risks we need to take.”

Having waited so long to become champion, Oliveira “knows how important it is to defend the title”.

And despite being renowned for his grappling prowess, he showed he can punch too by recovering from an early wobble against Chandler to knock out the American in the second round.

“I knocked a guy out with my left hand,” said Oliveira. “I turned the fight around and sent a message to the division that I can do it all. I’m a complete MMA fighter.

“You’ve seen how much I can bring into fights. I’m always very tough on the ground, but you’ve seen how I’ve evolved standing up.

“Poirier’s a tough fighter. He’s very strong with his boxing and brings a lot of wrestling. Everyone knows he likes to take fights to five rounds, but all I care about is what I’m going to do.”

Who else is fighting at UFC 269?

The UFC’s final numbered event of 2021 features two championship fights at the top of the bill, with two-weight champion Amanda Nunes starring in the co-main event.

The dominant Brazilian, who has 12 straight wins stretching back to 2015, defends her bantamweight title against American Julianna Pena.

The main card also sees former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt’s switch to flyweight to take on number six-ranked Kai Kara-France of New Zealand, while American welterweight Geoff Neal faces Argentine veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio.

American bantamweight Sean O’Malley hopes for a third straight win against Brazil’s Raulian Paiva while on the prelims, American veteran Dominick Cruz, who lost the bantamweight title to Garbrandt in 2016, has the third fight of his return against Brazil’s Pedro Munhoz.