Current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion Max Holloway will look to win the interim Lightweight strap when he faces off against Dustin Poirier in UFC 236’s main event in Atlanta, Ga., on April 13, 2019. It’s a rematch seven years in the making, as the two men initially threw down way back at UFC 143 in Feb. 2012. The fight marked Holloway’s — who was 20 at the time — UFC and Featherweight debut, while Poirier only had three UFC fights under his belt. As two young, up-and-coming prospects, both men were eager to make a name for themselves in a division that was in full control of Jose Aldo at the time.
From the jump, both men got after it with each content letting the action play out on the feet with little-to-no feeling out process. After getting hit with a flying knee, Poirier opted to go to his wrestling, eventually grabbing a hold of “Blessed” and dragging him down to the mat.
Once in full mount, Poirier worked his magic by unleashing some ground-and-pound and positioning himself to sink in an armbar. Though Holloway eventually fought out of it, he found himself in a worse position by getting trapped in a mounted arm-triangle combined with an armbar that forced a tap.
It was a thing of beauty.
Now, “Blessed” will look to get it back and become the promotion’s next “champ-champ” with a win over “The Diamond,” who will be getting his first taste of a five-round title fight. The winner will also set himself up for a title unification fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov this September.
Maybe …
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