Dustin Poirier has been told he cannot sell out a fight within 24 hours unless he faces a big name.
Former interim champion Poirier has pondered retirement since losing out on the UFC lightweight title to Charles Oliveira last December.
'The Diamond' is struggling to book a long-awaited fight with Nate Diaz and admitted on Twitter he "probably" won't fight Conor McGregor for the fourth time.
And Poirier has been told by MMA analyst Chael Sonnen that he is not in a four-man group of UFC stars that includes, McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, Nick and Nate Diaz.
"Every now and then you get to have fun. Conor [McGregor] gets to have fun. It's not gonna be world title fights, he's gonna have some fun though," Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.
"Same thing with [Jorge] Masvidal, same thing with anybody named Diaz. I'm just asking, is [Dustin] Poirier also on that field? I think he is, with one caveat.
"The four guys living on that island that I have previously stated can truly go in with anybody. You can put all the names on a wall, close your eyes, throw a dart, book him and you're gonna sell out within 24 hours.
Sonnen thinks that, unlike the other four fighters, Poirier needs a "partner" to sell out a fight which is why he is not the exclusive group.
"Poirier I think needs a partner but it can still be fun and I think Poirier can go in with any one of those guys, Poirier and Conor is being talked about, Poirier and Diaz is being talked about."
After coming up short twice in his efforts to become the undisputed lightweight champion, Poirier has been bulking up ahead of move to 170-pounds.
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Despite playing down a fourth fight with McGregor, Poirier said he would be willing to take the fight if it was in the ring instead of the octagon.
And Sonnen thinks the one-sided nature of their second and third fights would make a fourth fight "weird".
“Poirier vs Conor works. I understand that but part four is a little weird," Sonnen added. "Particularly when two and three didn’t have a single round won by Conor, it was very uncompetitive.
Conor has been for a meaningful period of time and will live the rest of his career on the same unique spot that he monopolises, which is, whatever he does, is going to work.
“Does Conor have the same pursuit of getting back to a world championship? If that answer is yes he has to pick a division.”
