Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Dustin Poirier doesn’t have an Octagon date any time soon, so he’ll compete in a big-time grappling match instead.
Dustin Poirier has been calling out all sorts of UFC lightweights in an attempt to get back into the Octagon. Nothing has come together though, so he’ll take his talents to the grappling mat instead. Poirier recently took to social media to announce that he will compete against grappling superstar Garry Tonon in the main event of SubStars at the Fillmore on February 21st:
My poor legz pic.twitter.com/pe63jAVePJ
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) January 31, 2020
The event will take place in Miami Beach, not too far from where Poirier trains. He hasn’t competed in the cage since a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September, which ended a four-fight win streak.
The 28-year-old Tonon is a decorated grappler that has dabbled in MMA himself, racking up a 5-0 record, with all the wins coming inside the distance, in ONE Championship over the last two years.
Poirier and Tonon aren’t the only well-known names on the card. The co-main event will see Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu taking on Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Lovato Jr., assuming Lovato can still compete while dealing with a rare brain disease. Another featured match will see Gordon Ryan taking on Aaron Johnson, and apparently there will be some sort of sumo competition that will feature Anthony Johnson and Curtis Blaydes among others. Not exactly sure how that will work out, but it should be a spectacle.