“We’ll see. He showed grit in his last fight against Chandler.”
Despite holding multiple UFC records as well as proving himself as championship-worthy following a TKO victory over Michael Chandler at UFC 262, lightweight champ Charles Oliveira still maintains a reputation by some as a ‘quitter’.
Dustin Poirier isn’t so sure about that, but ‘The Diamond’ plans to drag ‘Do Bronx’ into deep waters in their highly anticipated UFC 269 headliner in Las Vegas on Saturday.
“If it’s in there, we’ll find out,” Poirier told MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin in a recent interview. “But I can’t bank on that. We’ll see. He showed grit in his last fight against Chandler. He got hurt, almost got finished, came back and knocked the guy out. Your last fight is the one I go off of and he showed championship grit.”
“I’ve been watching that guy a long time,” he added. “We’ve both been in the same waters, [145, 155 pounds] for the last decade in the UFC. There’s a list of guys when they won the belt was really special to me and he’s on that list. [Michael] Bisping’s on that list. Robbie Lawler’s on that list. Underdogs.
“Of course everybody’s fighting against adversity but the guys who were counted out a couple times and made it happen. I’m trying to add my name to that list. That’s the goal here this weekend.”
UFC 269: Chandler vs. Poirier takes place this Saturday, Dec. 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.