Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier has been enjoying a huge career resurgence with three straight wins since returning to his original home of 155 pounds following his first-round TKO loss to featherweight champion Conor McGregor at 2014’s UFC 178.
Poirier has beaten Carlos Diego Ferreira, Yancy Medeiros, and finally, rising prospect Joseph Duffy in rapid succession, and now he’s eying a rise up the rankings with his next fight.
In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Poirier spoke up about his upcoming bout with the No. 13-ranked Bobby Green at UFC 199 on June 4 from Inglewood, California, saying that he doesn’t expect much from Green after his near two-year layoff:
“I’m expecting the same stuff he always does,” Poirier said. “Dance around, talk (expletive), throw big punches, big kicks. He doesn’t really set anything up that well. Seems like he has good instincts, he’s a good athlete and he has a lot of experience.”
Poirier, who is coming off of a nose procedure after his UFC 195 bout with Joseph Duffy, talked about coming back from injury and how he has evolved as a fighter:
“After the last fight I had the procedure on my nose and once I was cleared to get back in the gym I was right back in the gym and I’ve been grinding, learning, training,” Poirier said. “(Just) keeping it fresh, man. Working on different things, always trying to evolve and get better.”
‘The Diamond’ then went on to make an official prediction on how he believes the bout will conclude:
“He’s been out a while so I’m sure he’s hungry to get in front of those cameras and put on a show.
“We’ll see who’s tougher, who’s better that night. I think I’m going to pick him apart and put him away. I’m going to knock Bobby Green out.”
Poirier is currently undefeated in his lightweight tenure since making the jump up from 145-pounds, after suffering a first round KO loss to current featherweight champ Conor McGregor, and is currently the No. 11-Ranked lightweight in the UFC and is hopping to crack the top-ten in the 155-pound standings with a potential win over Green.
Poirier and Green are set to open the UFC 199 pay-per-view (PPV) card co-headlined by a bantamweight title bout between bitter rivals Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber while Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping will battle in a 185-pound title bout as the main event.
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