Islam Makhachev recently claimed that the media took some of his comments way out of proportion and made it seem as though he does not respect Dustin Poirier. The Lightweight Champion will fight ‘The Diamond’ at UFC 302 with the title on the line. Ahead of the fight, Makhachev had spoken about how Poirier would not be able to choke him out using a guillotine while on the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ podcast hosted by Daniel Cormier.
Following the interview, general consensus believed that Makhachev was undermining Poirier’s ability as a fighter. However, this was never Makhachev’s intention and he has now come clean in a recent interview with Sport 24, where he spoke about the entire situation, saying,
“The media made a big joke out of this, that I was joking about his guillotines. No, I’m telling the truth that I think he has a pretty good guillotine…This is a big mistake… underestimating Dustin is stupid in general”
Islam Makhachev says it’s “stupid” to underestimate Dustin Poirier, and says he’s not joking when he says Dustin has a good guillotine:
“I gave my neck a lot in training… The media made a big joke out of this, that I was joking about his guillotines. No, I’m telling the truth… pic.twitter.com/dkgIdeVgKH
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 25, 2024
Makhachev insisted he was not joking about Dustin Poirier having a good guillotine. In fact, he was being serious, but all he said was he would not get submitted by it. The champion also revealed that he would never underestimate Dustin Poirier especially since he has such a good record against most top-ranked fighters.
Nevertheless, ‘The Diamond’ was not the least bit concerned by Makhachev’s comments. Instead, he had a fitting response to the champion.
Dustin Poirier responds to Islam Makhachev’s prediction for UFC 302
Dustin Poirier knows how to stand his ground both inside and outside the octagon. Hence, the former UFC BMF champion did not mince words when he heard Islam Makhachev’s prediction. When informed of Makhachev’s comments during an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Poirier reacted to it saying,
“I’m gonna knock him unconscious, and the ref is gonna be pulling me off of him.”
Dustin Poirier reacts to Islam Makhachev’s prediction for their fight:
“I’m gonna knock [Islam] unconcious, and the ref is gonna be pulling me off of him.”
@YahooSports #UFC #MMA #UFC302 pic.twitter.com/Wb1gbIqlR3
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 21, 2024
Islam Makhachev is in for a tough fight at UFC 302. Dustin Poirer is one of the hardest-hitting strikers in the division and always performs under pressure, which has given him his moniker ‘The Diamond.’ Thus, from the looks of it, UFC 302 promises to be fireworks with both fighters, making this personal and predicting a finish.
