Just moments after Dustin Poirier got his hand raised in an upset knockout victory over Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299, talk of a title shot for the perennial contender began.
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One person who is on board with the idea is Ali Abdelaziz, lightweight king Islam Makhachev’s manager. Abdelaziz hopped on social media hours after UFC 299 to share his thoughts on Dustin Poirier giving Makhachev his next challenge.
“Dustin Poirier took a huge risk tonight and came out on top and looked amazing. Dustin vs @MAKHACHEVMMA in June especially since everyone else has fights,” he tweeted. “If the UFC is good with this then Islam would be game.”
At the post-fight press conference, Dustin Poirier expressed his desire to compete for the undisputed crown for a third time. “That’s the only reason I’m fighting,” he said. “I started fighting to be the world champion, to be the best in the world, undisputed…I’ve done a lot, checked a lot of boxes. But there’s still one box unchecked, and that’s being a world champion.”
The hard-fought win put “The Diamond” in the familiar territory of brutal slugfest. In his previous bout, Dustin Poirier was finished with a head kick by fellow former interim champion Justin Gaethje for the ceremonial BMF belt.
Dustin Poirier weathered an early storm of power punches, takedowns, and aggression from the number 12 ranked French contender before landing a fight-ending right hook to score the KO win.
Dustin Poirier: Being World Champion is an “Unchecked Box”
Poirier’s possible addition to the title picture further complicates an already crowded field of 155-pound contenders. The next pay-per-view event, the landmark UFC 300, features a trio of relevant lightweight fights. Gaethje will defend his BMF crown against former featherweight belt holder Max Holloway while a supposed number one contender bout between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan will take place earlier on the main card.
If Poirier and Abdelaziz get their wish granted, it would be the first time Makhachev will defend the title against a lightweight. Makhachev previously defeated then featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in the consensus 2023 fight of the year.
Volkanovski would suffer a first-round knockout loss in an October rematch after replacing an injured Charles Oliveria on short notice.
Poirier came up short in two previous opportunities to claim undisputed gold. A shot against Makhachev’s coach and training partner Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 would end with a third-round rear naked choke. He would suffer a similar fate at the hands of Charles Oliveira at UFC 269.
An Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier fight would likely land in Saudia Arabia in June.
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