Order Now! UFC 302 “Makhachev vs. Poirier” Saturday at 10
p.m. ET on ESPN+
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Dustin
Poirier’s (30-8) longtime coach, Mike
Brown, claims “The Diamond” has made necessary adjustments to
his game after his loss against Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
Poirier suffered a third-round submission loss against “The Eagle”
in his first undisputed title shot at UFC 242 in 2019. Poirier is
now scheduled to fight Nurmagomedov’s protégé Islam
Makhachev (25-1) in the
UFC 302 headliner on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, New
Jersey. With both Nurmagomedov and Makhachev sporting very similar
wrestling-heavy styles, Poirier believes he has a fair
understanding of what’s coming his way.
“Islam and Khabib have similar styles,” Poirier said. “I got to
have a bit of understanding of the pressure, the strength and the
style of wrestling that those guys have. It’s kind of a little bit
of serendipity here cause now I’m fighting his protégé. Once again
for the world title.”
Brown, Poirier’s longtime coach at
American Top Team, claims his pupil has fixed the holes that
were exposed in the fight against Nurmagomedov. They have been
focusing on wrestling, which he believes will hold its own against
Makhachev.
„Khabib showed us where we had some holes,” Brown said. “We’ve
worked on it and those holes are patched. We’re working on
anti-wrestling and getting back to our feet, that’s no secret.
Dustin will put him away. This will just be the cherry on top of an
unbelievable career, one of the best careers I think the sport has
seen. Nobody’s more deserving, nobody’s paid the dues more than
Dustin Poirier. It’s his time.”
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov doesn’t believe Poirier has made any
significant development since losing to him and expects Makhachev
to outclass the Louisianan in all aspects.
Order Now! UFC 302 “Makhachev vs. Poirier” Saturday at 10
p.m. ET on ESPN+