Dustin Poirier of UFC 236: Looking to the future with Khabib Nurmagomedov would be disrespectful towards Max Holloway

Dustin Poirier, the UFC lightweight contender, gives Max Holloway the utmost respect before their fight for Interim Lightweight at UFC 236, to the point that he refuses to think of a possible attempt to unify the title with defending champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In a recent interview with Damon Martin, of MMA Weekly, 'The Diamond' has hailed Holloway, who is on a run of thirteen consecutive wins, as one of the world's biggest book-to-book fighters.

"People say that Max is one of the best guys at the pound right now," said Poirier before the title game against the featherweight champion next week. "He looks amazing. I will give it to him. His performances were superb. He looks very complete, he looks good everywhere, his confidence is great.

"The guy is the champion. He is the undisputed world champion of 145 pounds. "

It is for these reasons that Poirier focuses on what precedes it rather than projecting himself too far into the future and theorizing about his possible rapprochement with Khabib.

"I can not look beyond this fight and look to the future about unification or fighting with Khabib or what happens in the lightweight division," said Poirier. "I can not think so far. All I can see is April 13th. 25 minutes with a very tough opponent. I have full hands. I can not be disrespectful of the unrest I have set and the need to become an interim world champion.

"None of this counts for the moment. We will cross this bridge when we get there. At the moment, it's 25 minutes, five rounds with Max Holloway on April 13 to become the Interim Lightweight World Champion, and I'll have a share of the world title, after which we'll be keen to to unify the belts. "

Nurmagomedov, undefeated after twenty-seven professional fights, confirmed that he would face the winner of Holloway-Poirier later in the year.

The highly anticipated pay-per-view, which also includes a fight for the interim title between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya, will take place next Saturday, April 13, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.