Third time’s the charm! Dustin Poirier aiming to avenge the loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov by dethroning Islam Makhachev
Top lightweight Dustin Poirier is looking forward to avenging his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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Dustin and Khabib ahead of their fight (Image Courtesy - The Mirror)
Islam Makachev is without a contender after successfully retaining his lightweight belt against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284. On the other hand, Dustin Poirier is without an opponent and has made it clear he wants another crack at the lightweight championship.
After two failed attempts at the championship, Dustin Poirier believes the third time is the charm for his successful attempt at conquering the lightweight division. If he can beat Islam Makachev in a potential fight, he will indirectly avenge his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dustin submitted Michael Chandler at UFC 281 and has looked to return to title contention. What better way to let the Champion know about his intention than to call him out on Twitter?
Looking at the landscape of the lightweight division, Beneil Dariush is the fighter with the longest winning streak (besides Makhachev), but he is booked to fight Charles Oliveira in May. Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev are also booked to fight, which means Dustin and Islam are free to fight each other.
What’s up
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) February 22, 2023
At this point in Dustin’s career, he is on a short window to fight for the title again before it goes out of his reach. Islam Makachev will look to create history by achieving the most successful title defences in the lightweight division and is searching for a new contender.
Dustin Poirier’s weaknesses that led to two unsuccessful title fights
Dustin Poirier has fought for the title twice. He fought Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 and Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 for the Lightweight Championship. He was no match for Khabib but found decent success against Oliveira before getting submitted.
Khabib and Oliveira implemented a good game plan – go for takedowns to nullify Dustin’s high-level boxing skills. Dustin has a Black Belt in BJJ, but he could not do much against high-level grapplers like Khabib and Oliveira. Khabib pressured him, tirelessly looked for submission attempts, and finally got it in the third round. Dustin refused to engage Oliveria on the ground fearing the submission threat and tried to wait out the round. It appears to be seen if he can counter the grappling threat of Islam Makachev if they ever fight.
For now, Makhachev might be a bad matchup for Dustin. He struggled with his takedown defense against Khabib. It would be similar to Makachev also, considering Khabib trains Makachev and will look to implement a similar game plan against Poirier.
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Gerard Crispin
(3318 Articles Published)