Famed UFC lightweight, Dustin Poirier’s phenomenal striking display at UFC 299 earned him another shot at the current UFC lightweight king, Islam Makhachev. ‘The Diamond’ will lock horns against the Dagestani on 1 June to headline the coveted UFC 302. Now Makhachev might have practically steamrolled all his opponents but Poirier doesn’t believe he needs special or new tricks to get the job done.
Poirier recently appeared on the ‘Fight Bananas’ YouTube podcast where he revealed that he trusted his boxing skills to get the job done.
Poirier is one of the finest boxers in the UFC, having made a name for himself by knocking out his opponents with a flurry of combos. Even the most efficient strikers of the UFC, including the famed Conor McGregor and Max Holloway failed to stand Poirier’s insane striking.
This is probably why the 35-year-old revealed that he would trust his striking to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov’s current UFC lightweight champ friend. So when questioned on how he planned to counter Makhachev’s pressure inside the octagon. ‘The Diamond’ replied,
“Probably with a hook, a cross, and an uppercut, we’ll see. That is how I would respond to that [Makhachev’s fighting style].”
Well, none of Poirier’s coaches or fans will have any issues with this approach following this strike-heavy style to fight Makhachev. But a lot of them will hope that the boss of the hot sauce doesn’t resort to his UFC 299 tactics, where he tried to choke his rival out. Makhachev may prove to be too good for him to defeat via a choke.
That said, it would be rather naive to put it past him since Poirier’s ground and submission game are rather unorthodox but they have been effective in the past, to the point where he almost choked out Khabib Nurmagomodev at UFc 242. Now, The Eagle managed to squirm out of it after 30 very long seconds but a lesser man might not have had fate smiling upon them. But is Islam Makhachev the lesser man?
Islam Makhachev not worried about Dustin Poirier’s Guillotine
‘The Diamond’ has earned quite a few submission victories in his pro-MMA career to date. Poirier may have managed to defeat his UFC 281 rival, Michael Chandler, via a rear-naked choke. But he has a penchant for guillotines and an overindulgence of that could lead could end up giving Makhachev the upper hand, especially since the Daegestani has a ground game that far surpasses his peers.
Makhachev has also accepted Poirier’s guillotine challenge saying he would be “ready” for it. This could easily be Poirier’s last shot at the undisputed lightweight title, so the Diamond is not just going to throw caution to the wind against a juggernaut like Makhachev. Now, whatever his actual plans for the fight are, statistics would suggest, parrying with Makhachev on the ground is generally a bad idea.
