Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) fell to Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 nine months ago by third-round submission. The Louisiana native, who trains at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, has just one loss in his past eight fights. Poirier, 31, owns career victories over the likes of current UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway and former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. This was Poirier's first fight back since hip surgery.
Poirier said he needs time to consider what he'll do next.
"Maybe I'll fight at the end of the year. Maybe I'll fight next year. I just want to go home to my daughter," he said. "Now that I'm a victor again, I want to get back to the drawing board. I want to keep getting better. I want to stay in love with this sport. I don't want to push myself so much to where I hate this. I've been doing this a long time and pushing myself to the limits every day. So I just want to do it right."