Dustin Poirier is ready to unify belts with Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year, with all signs pointing to that fight happening in September at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Although the Russian is undefeated, and the big betting favorite, Poirier isn’t worried about that. Rather, he knows if he implements his game plan he will be able to hand the champion his first loss.
“There’s not like one thing that’s glaring at me that we need to work on it’s just my overall game and being a better fighter,” Poirier said on Below the Belt’s Food Truck Diaries with Brendan Schaub as transcribed by BJPenn.com. “We have to make holes by just performing out there. I will and can [get back up after being taken down]. I create space with my Jiu-Jitsu. I don’t think people know how long I’ve been doing Jiu-Jitsu. As long as I’ve been fighting – before I ever fought. I’ve been doing Jiu-Jitsu 14 or 15 years, I’m a black belt. I’m gonna create space with submissions and put him in danger and make him have to respect me and then I’ll get up.”
“The Diamond” expects it to be a war, and he believes if Nurmagomedov slows down and gets tired, the unbeaten Russian will be in trouble.
“It’s gonna be a scrap but I’m gonna make him make mistakes and we’ll see what happens. If he slows down, it’s gonna go downhill for him,” he added. “I think with my overall game, I can cause threats and problems for him early on as well. I don’t need him to gas out to win this fight.”
Ultimately, Poirier has been in this position before as an underdog and is more than ready to shock the world again.
“Against all odds, I’ll get it done, man. It’s the story of my life.”