UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier receives jiu-jiu black belt from Tim Credeur

Dustin Poirier’s quest to capture UFC gold is still ongoing, but today his more-than-a-decade-long pursuit for another belt came to a conclusion.

Poirier (22-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) revealed that more than 11 years after venturing into grappling, he was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from longtime coach and former UFC fighter Tim Credeur.

“The Diamond” revealed the news on social media (via Twitter):

Poirier, No. 11 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, is coming off a third-round finish of Anthony Pettis at UFC Fight Night 120 in November. He’s lost just one of eight fights since returning to the 155-pound division in April 2015.

For his next fight, Poirier is gunning for a rematch with former UFC and Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez (29-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC), whom he fought to a no-contest at UFC 211 in May when an illegal knee prematurely ended the bout.

“He’s the only guy in the top three, four that’s available now,” Poirier said during a fan Q&A prior to UFC on FOX 26 earlier this month (watch it above). “Everyone is tied up or waiting on Conor McGregor to come back. I’m trying to get a shot at gold. The only way to do that is to beat the top guys – and because I owe him an ass-whooping, let’s be honest.

“I think him and his team know it’s a bad matchup for him. Really, that’s it,”

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