Dustin Poirier isn’t putting too much stock into the one loss that is on Islam Makhachev’s record.
“The Diamond” is set to challenge the lightweight champion at UFC 302 and has a huge task ahead of him in Newark.
The champ has been dominant in most of his fights aside from one setback that happened all the way back in 2015 in his second Octagon appearance.
In trying to land his own big, looping shot on Adriano Martins, Makhachev was caught by a powerful counter and dropped, with the referee stepping in to wave off the fight.
In an interview on mainevent for Fox Sports Australia, Poirier said that the lightweight champion is far better than he was nine years ago so he can’t expect Makhachev to make the same mistake twice.
“I think the Islam I’m fighting on Saturday night is a different guy than we sat in that time he lost. He was kind of fumbling and his weight was over his feet, he was running in kind of goofy and got hit with a good shot but definitely if he’s lunging in and covering space like that recklessly, I’ll throw check hooks all day.”
Dustin Poirier Says He Isn’t Interested In Fighting Conor McGregor Right Now
Poirier also spoke in the same interview about where he is at right now in regards to his rivalry with Conor McGregor.
“The Notorious” is set to return at UFC 303 and seemingly still has unfinished business to attend to with “The Diamond” after their third meeting ended in him suffering the injury that has kept him out for so long.
For Poirier, he’s happy to have moved on to being back in title contention and trying to realize his dream of becoming the world champion.
This is his main focus for now but you can’t help but feel that whilst the two men are still in the promotion, you can never say never.
“I’ve kind of moved past it and I’m fighting for the undisputed world title, that’s the pinnacle of the sport. Fighting Conor isn’t the pinnacle, being the undisputed world champion is the pinnacle so that’s what I’ve been focused on. But I do think he’s going to beat Chandler.”
