Dana White dropped two bombshells on the MMA community during his post-fight press conference at UFC 300. The first one was the lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier set for June 1st, 2024 at UFC 302. The second was the return of Conor McGregor at UFC 303. With just under two months to go for the fight, Makhachev will be eager to get his fight camp started. However, there is a major roadblock that will significantly delay the start of his training camp.
Coach Javier Mendez has been the head coach for both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev for a long time now. In the most recent episode of the ‘Javier Mendez Podcast’ he explained why he was not able to make it to Makhachev’s training camp. He said,
“I was scheduled to leave for Islam’s training camp yesterday night. They said that the worst storm in 25 years is coming. I am thinking ‘Oh well, I’ll make the flight. It’s going to be one of those deals’. Well by mid afternoon, the streets are flooded, my apartment street is flooded. So as a result of that my flights got cancelled. Then Khabib goes, ‘Coach tell the truth, are you scared?’. I said, ‘Hell yeah I am scared.’”
Mendez is currently based in Dubai and was aiming to join Makhachev in Abu Dhabi for the training camp. Unfortunately, The United Arab Emirates experienced chaos following the highest rainfall in 75 years, with some locations receiving more than 250 mm (about 10 inches) of precipitation in less than 24 hours. As Mendez stated, this brought the country to a grinding halt. Flights were cancelled which severely restricted movement. Although it will delay Mendez a few days, he will eventually be able to join his pupil for training camp.
A closer look at Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier
Dustin Poirier bounced back into the win column with a stunning knockout win over Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. This comes after he was knocked out unconscious by Justin Gaethje at UFC 291. After the fights at UFC 300, Arman Tsarukyan was offered a shot at the title backstage.
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However, he refused the fight as it was too short of a turnaround time for him. The UFC wasted no time in finding a replacement and secured a fight with Dustin Poireir for the champion Islam Makhachev. For Poirier, this will be his third and potentially last shot at becoming a world champion in the UFC.
