DUSTIN POIRIER insists his bitter rivalry with Conor McGregor will last 'forever' – no matter how many times they fight.
The former featherweight contenders renewed their seven-year-long feud in January at UFC 257, where Poirier shocked the world with a second-round KO victory.
Poirier picked up a second consecutive win over the UFC's poster boy in July courtesy of a broken leg for The Notorious, who roared: "This is not over."
And The Diamond can't envisage a time when their beef will ever be quashed.
He told BT Sport: “We can fight five more times, I don’t think it’s ever gonna be settled.
"It’s just one of those rivalries that’s gonna be forever.”
Poirier, 32, will be back in action tomorrow morning in the main event of UFC 269, where he'll bid to end Charles Oliveira's brief reign as lightweight champion.
The bout will be the Lafayette leftie's third of a busy 2021, which he hopes will be the final frantic year of his career.
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He said: “I see a lot of fighters try to get every last drop out of their careers and leave a lot of themselves out there.
"I don’t want to do that. I’ve been fighting a long time. I had my first fight at 18 years old,” he said.
“I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I think I might fight less frequent. I just love fighting, it’s who I am.
"Win, lose or draw Saturday night, I’m not gonna be fighting three times a year, moving forward.”
Poirier will bid to claim the lightweight throne at the second time of asking and is hellbent on permanently writing his name into the UFC's history books.
He said: “If I can become the world champion Saturday night, I’ve done everything I set out to do.
“I’ve set my family up. We’re in a good position financially.
"I have other businesses. I have to check that box. That’s forever. I was saying 25 minutes to make life fair.
"This is 25 minutes for eternity, 25 until eternity. That’s what this is. You don’t take that away.
“Once a champion, always a champion. It’s very important for me and my wife. It just cements everything that we’ve done.”
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