Islam Makhachev believes his fight against Dustin Poirier will be a rehash of the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier bout. After all, the UFC Lightweight Champion trained alongside ‘The Eagle’ and even had him as his coach for a brief period. The pair are synonymous with the Dagestani style of fighting, which includes Sambo. Both the Russian fighters are almost untouchable when it comes to the ground-and-pound game, and this is exactly why Dustin Poirier might find it difficult to overcome the Makhachev threat.
Both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev have found a lot of success in this style of fighting and Makhachev believes it will be a huge point of difference. The champion sat down for an interview with ‘TMZ Sports’ recently. In the interview, he spoke about the only problem Dustin Poirier has. He said,
“His problem is his style…His weak point his wrestling and his grappling. I have the key for the easy fight…My style and Khabib style is the worst style for Dustin.”
Islam Makhachev believes he is a stylistic nightmare for Dustin Poirier. The American has never done well against ground and pound, as it was evident in his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Facing off at UFC 242, Poirier struggled throughout the bout to keep pace with Khabib. Ultimately, ‘The Diamond’ wilted under pressure, submitting to ‘The Eagle’ in the third round.
Although Poirier is famous for his guillotine chokes, he has not really shown fans any real wrestling. Against a fighter like Makhachev, defending takedowns and being able to hold his own in the ground game is crucial.
Makhachev states that is the only flaw in his game and it is something he will look to exploit when he takes him on. Meanwhile, the champion’s coach, Javier Mendez, recently spoke about matchups and who the most dangerous fighter in the division is, from a stylistic perspective.
Javier Mendez cites Justin Gaethje as a threat
In the latest episode of the Javier Mendez Podcast, the AKA head coach spoke about Justin Gaethje. He opined the American was the biggest threat to Makhachev. Mendez said,
“I thought that [Gaethje] was the biggest threat for us, and now he’s probably never gonna be in the picture for us going forward.”
Mendez believes Justin Gaethje will no longer be in the title picture after his loss to Max Holloway. Thus, Islam Makhachev does not need to worry about fighting him anymore.
Well, Gaethje might have suffered a brutal KO, but he can still re-emerge in the title contention scenario. But in order to do that, ‘The Highlight’ will have to grind hard and earn his way up to the top again.
That way, if he is able to string a number of victories against the top-ranked opponents in the division, he might get to fight for the title.
