Dustin Poirier has confirmed he was willing to step in to face Islam Makhachev at the last minute, before a deal was agreed for Alexander Volkanovski to fight at UFC 294.

Makhachev had initially been due to face Charles Oliveira, but the Brazilian was ruled out of the contest with an injury.

UFC executives were forced to look for a replacement at short notice, with chief business officer Hunter Campbell telling ESPN that Poirier and Mateusz Gamrot were among those contacted.

A deal was eventually agreed for Australia's Volkanovski to step in at 10 days notice, as he hoped to avenge his narrow decision loss to Makhachev in Perth at UFC 284.

Campbell had claimed Poirier had jumped at the opportunity to fight Makhachev, revealing the former interim UFC lightweight champion had been 'bugging him' to find out whether he would face the Russian.

Poirier confirmed in an interview with MMA Fighting that he had agreed to the lightweight title fight, but acknowledged UFC bosses never officially offered him the opportunity.

'I think it was 12 days, 11 days before the event [when I got the call],' Poirer said.

'I answer the phone, let’s go. I said, "What perfect timing. This is how life works." I just landed in Florida. My whole team is here, my coaches are in town, this happened for a reason. 

'He asked me my weight, and I can make the weight in 11 days, no problem. I thought that was it. He told me give him one day.

'So the next day I didn’t hear back. I’m like, "Hey, bro, I said, yes, let’s go I got my team here, let’s book these flights. I need to get out there ASAP." Then he kept quiet for a while, and then all the news started breaking. 

'But he didn’t tell me, "Hey, you’re the guy." He asked me if I would do it. I said yes, he told me to give him one day, and I guess he was waiting on Alexander to commit.'

The American, who has not fought since suffering a knock-out defeat to Justin Gaethje in July, admitted he had sympathy for Volkanovski following his loss to Makhachev.

Volkanovski suffered a first round defeat to Makhachev in Abu Dhabi, with the knock-out loss ending his hopes of becoming a two-weight champion.

Poirier claimed 'it sucks' that Volkanovski was unable to perform to his best following the limited time he had to prepare.