Dustin Poirier is on a long road to recovery after going toe-to-toe with Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 over the weekend ... revealing the extensive list of injuries he sustained during the fight.
"The Diamond" -- who lost to the champ via fifth-round submission on Saturday -- took to X on Wednesday to disclose the damage he's dealing with in the days following the bout ... and it sounds painful as hell.
"Nose is broken bad, rib is broken and my ACL is partially torn," Poirier said minutes ago ... while adding it's all part of "FIGHT LIFE."
Certainly a lot to deal with for the current #4-ranked lightweight in the UFC ... who has since returned home to Louisiana on Tuesday for some much-deserved R&R following the gruesome bout.
It is a tough blow for the UFC great ... as he was chasing down his first-ever undisputed UFC title of his career.
You may recall -- Poirier won the interim lightweight championship against Max Holloway back in April of 2019 ... but was unable to claim undisputed status following a third-round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov just a few months later.
At 35 years old -- albeit still looking good -- Poirier hinted at his post-fight press conference that 302 might have been the last time we saw him in Octagon ... but stopped short of saying it with 100% certainty.
"I don't want the sport to retire me and squeeze me out," Poirier said. "I don't want to be one of those guys hanging on. I honor and respect [this sport] too much. We'll see, I don't know, but this could be my last fight."
Poirier is not putting a timeline on his decision ... but he plans to spend time with his family and talk it over with his loved ones and his coaches.
In the end ... it was great fight and one hell of a career -- if this really is the end.