Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is expected to make a formal announcement at some point in the very near future to make the Dustin Poirier vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov lightweight title unification bout official for the upcoming UFC 242 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi.
Not surprisingly, Poirier (25-5, 1 NC) is a pretty sizable underdog against the undefeated Nurmagomedov (27-0) after capturing the interim title at UFC 236 last month in Atlanta. But there’s one specific attribute that makes “The Diamond” one of the most dangerous contenders at 155 pounds.
“What’s crazy is with Dustin, his stamina threshold is crazy,” boxing coach Dyah Davis told BJPenn.com. “He can go long and still have power late. Most guys tend to fade with their power once they start to get a little fatigued, once the stamina decreases so does the power. But Dustin gets stronger as the fight goes … especially with five rounders, we always look forward to it. He’s been scheduled for five rounders but never actually went the distance. We always knew he could sustain that power late.”
That means any time Poirier is on his feet, Nurmagomedov is in danger of being knocked out. And I’m sure many fans expect “The Eagle” to keep this fight grounded, but the Sambo specialist opted to stand and “knock” with Al Iaquinta and Conor McGregor in back-to-back fights.
On paper, this might resemble the classic “striker vs. grappler” type of showdown from yesteryear, but Poirier also boasts an impressive grappling game. Simply put, this stands to be one of the better championship showdowns of 2019.
Who ya’ got?