Dustin Poirier and his team will be hoping that the third time’s the charm. As he takes on Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 302 in a week’s time, Poirier will be acutely aware of the first two times he almost made it to the summit. But UFC veteran Michael Bisping believes ‘The Diamond’ will right the wrongs from his Khabib fight.
Bisping believes that Poirier has learned from his mistakes and has the tools necessary to beat Islam Makhachev this coming weekend.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, the former champion broke down the upcoming title fight between Makhachev and Poirier. He dove deeper into the intricacies of the fight and explained why Poirier had a better chance against Makhachev than in his first title fight.
“So he’s going to go into this fight, very very confident, very self assured knowing he has seen everything Islam Makhachev can throw at him. And he has also seen the style and felt the pressure and the power of the mental and now coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov. “
It must be noted that while Khabib had managed to tap him out, Dustin was also just seconds away from ending his unbeaten streak. And now Bisping believes, having learned from his mistakes, Poirier will be better prepared to finish his story by becoming the undisputed UFC lightweight champion.
He’s been in there, he knows what to expect. He knows the mistakes the first time he made against Khabib. They’re going to right the wrongs. If he can keep this fight on the feet, then he might just be the champion.”
Bisping stressed that Poirier and his team of coaches at American Top Team must come up with a solid game plan to beat Makhachev since they are used to his style of fighting now. However, that will be easier said than done against the pound-for-pound number-one fighter in the UFC.
Islam Makhachev’s coach makes a bold statement ahead of Dustin Poirier fight
The common consensus among fans, and Michael Bisping is that Poirier is the better fighter on the feet. Bisping stated that if Poirier was able to keep the fight on his feet, he had a very strong chance of securing a win. However, Makhachev’s coach does not believe so.
In a recent YouTube video, the Dagestani’s striking coach Magomedgadzhi Bagandov praised the champion’s striking abilities and stated that according to him, Makhachev could outstrike Poirier in boxing as well as Muay Thai.
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He went on to add that there are no aspects in which Makhachev lags behind Poirier. All that said, it is highly unlikely that Makhachev will keep the fight on the feet the entire duration and go toe-to-toe with Poirier. It would be highly detrimental to his chin to do so.
But then again he did knock out Alexander Volkanovski, so what do we know?
