Michael Bisping thinks Dustin Poirier may have quite a bit to lose with a setback against Colby Covington.

Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) recently revealed that he’s been offered a welterweight bout against his former teammate Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) at UFC 277 on July 30, but hasn’t decided whether or not he’ll take the fight.

“The Diamond” explained that he doesn’t want Covington to make any profit off of his name, but may just accept the fight for the sake of staying active. Bisping, however, would advise Poirier to think twice about what he considers to be a risky move.

“Going up a weight division, going up against Colby Covington, if he loses that, that could have real implications on him getting a title fight again,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “he wants to be active. He wants to keep earning. He wants to keep fighting, wants to keep making money and setting himself up for the future, which I get, but going up to 170, putting on 15 pounds – well, I say putting on 15 pounds. Not cutting that 15 pounds, but sure enough, fighting at a weight class 15 pounds heavier against one of the top contenders. Whilst me as a fan, I would love to see that, but I don’t know if it’s the smartest move.”

Poirier, 33, finds himself in a bit of a quandary. A former interim champion and perennial contender at 155 pounds, Poirier fell short in his title quest once again when he was submitted by Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in December.

With former interim welterweight champ Covington currently holding the No. 1 spot in the rankings, a win for Poirier can skyrocket him to title contention in a new division. But Bisping wonders if fighting for the welterweight title is even part of Poirier’s plans.

“If he goes out there and he does beat Colby Covington, that makes him one of the top contenders at welterweight, and is that what he wants? Does he want to be fighting (Jorge) Masvidal? Does he want to be fighting Kamaru Usman or even Khamzat Chimaev? I’m not sure that he is. He’s not a small lightweight, he wouldn’t be a small welterweight, but he’d certainly be smaller than those guys.

“And God forbid if he was to lose, I think it would affect his standing in the lightweight division. He was saying that the UFC were offering him a No. 1 contender at lightweight at the end of the year. If he was to lose to Colby … there’s a possibility you lose and there’s a possibility you won’t be in a No. 1 contender fight.”

Stylistically speaking, Bisping gives Covington the edge over Poirier, so he doesn’t think “The Diamond” should be jumping on this fight.

“I probably favor Colby Covington in this fight,” Bisping said. “Colby’s the bigger guy, he’s used to fighting bigger guys, he’s by far the better wrestler, gas tank is incredible. Now, I’ll give him the striking advantage for sure. Dustin is probably a better striker, he’s the more technical boxer and he’s nasty. He’s nasty with the hands. However, Colby Covington is no slouch and he is getting better all the time.”