Islam Makhachev does not want Dustin Poirier to hang up his gloves anytime soon. In just a few days the pair will take each other on with the lightweight title on the line at UFC 302. Ahead of this highly awaited fight, ‘The Diamond’ made it clear that there is a huge possibility of him retiring from the sport irrespective of the result on Saturday night. However, his opponent does not think ‘The Diamond’ should retire, knowing that he is still one of the best in the division.
Islam Makhachev is being nothing but respectful towards his opponent ahead of their UFC 302 fight. Such an approach is quite appreciable since Poirier is a legend of the sport and still one of the top fighters in the division. The lightweight champion mirrored this very claim in a recent interview with NBC Sports, where he spoke about why Dustin Poirier should not hang up the gloves so soon, saying,
“He’s old, he’s talking about retiring, but I don’t want he retire after this fight if I beat him because this guy is dangerous he can beat everybody. He’s a top 5 in the world you know.”
Being hailed as the top 5 in the world is high praise coming from the champion, and it is evident that Makhachev is preparing hard for their upcoming fight. Makhachev also claimed that Poirier shouldn’t even dream of retiring at present, since his skills are seemingly getting better with time.
UFC 302 is all set to be a blockbuster, and now rumors about Khabib Nurmagomedov being present at the venue have sprung up online. Well, Makhachev left nothing to the imagination and soon confirmed that ‘The Eagle’ would be present in his corner during the Dustin Poirier fight
Islam Makhachev makes massive announcement regarding Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 302
Khabib Nurmagomedov has been training with Islam Makhachev in Newark ahead of the Dustin Poirier fight for over a week now. ‘The Eagle’ flew in from Russia to join Makhachev’s camp and hasn’t left since then.
However, the biggest question fans had was whether the former champion would be in Makhachev’s corner at UFC 302. Well, in a recent video uploaded by the UFC, the lightweight champ took it upon himself to confirm the speculations, saying,
“Eagle is landed in Jersey City. He’s going to be in my corner. Honestly, I’m very happy because he is one of the best corner, coach, brother, friend, that’s it.”
“The Eagle has landed” @MAKHACHEVMMA is excited to have @TeamKhabib back in his corner for #UFC302! pic.twitter.com/AcvpdByEnX
— UFC (@ufc) May 28, 2024
Islam Makhachev is excited to have Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner and rightfully so. The former UFC champion has a lot of knowledge and championship experience. It will also be interesting to see if ‘The Eagle’ can prove to be the point of difference against Dustin Poirier on Saturday night.
