Watch the first staredown between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.
With just three months to go until UFC 242: Khabib vs. Poirier, both men came face-to-face earlier this week at the UFC 242 press conference in London, England to hype their highly anticipated lightweight title unification bout in Abu Dhabi.
Check out the video below.
Khabib, the reigning, undefeated lightweight champion, will return to the Octagon for the first time since his career-defining title defense against Conor McGregor last year. Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight titleholder, in the fourth round of the UFC 229 main event at Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena to cement his position as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The feared Dagestani is undefeated at 27-0 and holds wins over the likes of McGregor, Iaquinta, Barboza and dos Anjos.
Poirier, 30, recently beat reigning featherweight king Max Holloway to capture the interim lightweight title. ‘The Diamond’ outboxed ‘Blessed’ enroute to a dominant unanimous decision win in the UFC 236 main event. The former featherweight contender is on a four-fight win streak against three former — and one current — champions, beating Holloway, Alvarez, Gaethje and Pettis.
UFC 242: Khabib vs. Poirier takes place on Sept. 7 at du Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.