After barely six months of retirement, Dustin Poirier has already told fans he will return to fight one of his most famous foes.

The legendary former UFC star held interim gold back in 2019, but failed in his three efforts to claim the undisputed belt over the following years. He hung up his gloves back in July in a Louisiana homecoming where he lost a trilogy bout to Max Holloway for the BMF title.

Poirier has had many great feuds over the years, facing Holloway thrice as well as a number of record-breaking pay-per-view headliners with Conor McGregor. Now, he wants one more trilogy to finally settle an old score.

Dustin Poirier says he will return to UFC for Justin Gaethje trilogy

After his final effort to claim the big one ended in submission against Islam Makhachev, it became clear that there weren’t going to be many more Dustin Poirier fights. He ended up going out on a loss to Holloway at UFC 318, despite feeling he could still compete at a high level.

He was able to quit the sport after giving it his all for almost two decades and clawing his way to the lightweight division’s summit three separate times. But one score remains unsettled; his series of fights with Justin Gaethje.

Their first meeting in 2018 was a classic, going three intense rounds before a fourth round KO for ‘The Diamond’. However, when they fought again five years later ‘The Highlights’ lived up to his name as he claimed the BMF belt with a stunning head-kick knockout.

And after watching Gaethje win the interim lightweight title at UFC 324, former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson declared that he would like to see a trilogy between the pair. Poirier stoked the flames further when he replied on Instagram, writing: “I’ll come back for that one.”

Justin Gaethje trilogy seems unlikely as title unification looms

The key phrase appears to be his shortening of “I will”, indicating that it is a serious consideration, as opposed to it being a theoretical comeback he would like to make for an unlikely fight.

Unfortunately, it seems that Gaethje is headed for a lightweight title unification against Ilia Topuria later this year. He insisted that he was ‘100 per cent’ after last night’s bout, and plans will likely get underway soon for that bout.

Topuria is currently out dealing with personal issues, but has promised fans he could return any time between April and June. And with the UFC White House card still without a main event, there could be an appetite to headline with two star strikers.