Khabib Nurmagomedov wait Islam Makhachev defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier convincingly in UFC 302.
Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC), a retired former 155-pound titleholder and head coach of Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC), has been diligently preparing his athlete to face a previous opponent of the yours at Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Poirier enters the fight as a sizable underdog against Makhachev, who is ranked No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie pound-for-pound ratings. His chances are being dismissed by many, but given his previous experience with “The Diamond”, Nurmagomedov is not in that group.
“A lot of people underestimate Dustin Poirier,” Nurmagomedov said in his Youtube channel. “I personally fought him, spent three rounds and over 10 minutes with him and have a good sense of his strengths and weaknesses. We are working hard on these aspects.
“Dustin Poirier is very experienced. He has been in many battles. Yes, he lost, but he also has many victories in the UFC, more than 22 or 23 victories. Using our slang, he is an experienced warrior. You cannot treat him lightly.”
Nurmagomedov defeated Poirier via submission in the third round when they fought at UFC 242 in September 2019. This was Poirier’s first shot at the undisputed UFC title, and he lost in the same way in his second attempt at the belt against Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in December 2021.
Poirier, 35, openly admitted to being aware that this is almost certainly his last opportunity to win an undisputed championship. This likely means he will put everything on the line inside the cage, so Makhachev, 32, must be extremely cautious. His team understands this and Nurmagomedov said that as long as Makhachev follows the strategy prepared in training camp, he will leave with the third consecutive defense of the belt.
“We have a lot of respect for Dustin, but on June 1st he will be our opponent,” Nurmagomedov said. “We have a clearly developed plan for the fight and I believe Islam will follow it. I really hope Islam finishes him off in the second or third round.”
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 302.
