Exclusive: Dustin Poirier Says Pettis Fight Has Been In The Making For A While

Dustin Poirier says his fight with Pettis has been coming for a long time. 

A fight between Dustin Poirier and Anthony Pettis has been set for November 11th at UFC Fight Night 120. This will be their first meeting in a fight despite the two fighters occupying the same weight divisions for a large portion of their careers.  In an interview with Fightful MMA's "Showdown Joe" Ferraro, Poirier talked about how he views his upcoming bout against Pettis. 

"Anthony Pettis is a former world champion in both WEC and UFC. Former defending champion in the UFC. He's a world-class caliber guy, obviously. He's a guy that's been around a long time. I've been watching him and been on the same cards. It's an exciting fight for me," said Poirier.

Pettis said he wanted to fight Poirier in an interview and soon after the fight was announced. Poirier revealed that the negotiation process for the bout started well before Pettis' interview. 

"I was at 145 for a while and he was still at 155. Finally, our paths had to cross and here we are. This fight has huge implications for the Lightweight division," said Poirier. "The fight's been talked about behind the scenes for a long time and he just said it. It wasn't like he called me out and got the fight. Before he said that on the Fox interview, that he wanted to fight me, this fight was pretty much done," he continued. 

In the interview, Pettis also spoke about the state of the Lightweight division and his opinion on the interim championship. 

Fightful MMA will provide live coverage of UFC Fight Night 120. There will also be a recapping podcast.