Dustin Poirier will challenge the UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev for the title at UFC 302. UFC President Dana White made the annoucement after UFC 300. Poirier went up against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 and won the bout via KO in round 2. Afterward, many speculated what awaited him next, and the title fight announcement must have brought a lot of joy to Dustin’s fans.
#UFC302 is looking good! You better be ready! 🔥
— UFC (@ufc) April 17, 2024
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As for Makhachev, the Dagestani fighter has defended his lightweight title twice since winning it at UFC 280 in October 2022. After that, both of his title defenses came against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 and UFC 294 respectively. So UFC 302 will be the first time when Makhachev takes on a ranked lightweight fighter since beating Charles Oliveira for the vacant title.
Dustin Poirier had no idea who Islam Makhachev was in 2015
Dustin Poirier will fight Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302 on June 1, 2024. While it is a big moment for Poirier’s career, it just goes to show how far Makhachev’s career has come over the years. After the title fight announcement, an old clip went viral where Poirier could be heard telling Ariel Helwani that he did not know who Islam was!
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In July 2015, Dustin added, “I’m not sure who he is. But yeah, he can get his a*s whipped too man.”
Fans might want to know why Poirier made such a comment. In May of 2015, Islam had just made his UFC debut and defeated Leo Kuntz at UFC 187. After that, Islam added that Dustin Poirier was one of the fighters that he wanted to face. When asked about Islam’s call out, Dustin added that he was unaware of the former’s existence. However, it did not seem like there was any malice behind the statement, and 9 years later, the two will finally face each other.
Dustin Poirier has a history with Islam Makhachev’s mentor
While he may not have known Islam Makhachev, Dustin was certainly aware of the existence of another Dagestani fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov. While Khabib is no longer an active member of the fighting community, “The Eagle” has left a mark in the sport and is considered to be the greatest lightweight fighter of all time. Nurmagomedov is also a mentor to Makhachev.
Poirier and Khabib faced off against each other in September 2019, at UFC 242. While the Dagestani was coming off the infamous win against Conor McGregor at UFC 229, Dustin had won the interim lightweight title against Max Holloway at UFC 236. The excitement for the bout was at a fever pitch and the Lousiana native nearly pulled off a giant upset.
In the third round of their bout, DP locked in a guillotine choke on Khabib which would have made a lot of fighters tap out easily. But, Khabib was built differently and he broke out of the chokehold after some initial struggles. The 35-year-old went on to submit Dustin with a rear-naked choke in the same round. It was the last time that Khabib got to fight infront of his father Abdulmanap before the latter’s tragic passing.
So there is certainly a lot of history with Dustin Poirier and the Nurmagomedov clan. While he failed to beat Khabib 5 years ago, can Poirier beat his disciple Islam Makhachev at UFC 302? Only time will tell.