Dustin
Poirier is glad to have his booking against Benoit St.
Denis still in place after a brief period of confusion where it
appeared to have fallen through.
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Poirier is scheduled to face St. Denis in the co-main event at
UFC
299 on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. This past
Thursday Poirier announced that the fight was off, with his
teammate Johnny
Eblen subsequently accusing the
Ultimate Fighting Championship of being “stingy.”
A few hours later, “The Diamond” revealed that the fight was back
on after a conversation with his manager that seemingly cleared a
“misunderstanding” with the promotion. While the perennial
lightweight contender didn’t divulge much about what went down
behind the scenes, he is glad to have the booking in place.
“I don’t want to dive too deep into it. There was some
miscommunication — not everybody was on the same page, and I
couldn’t get a hold of somebody, and things got a little bit
confusing for me, and I was waiting to hear something. But it is
what it is, fight’s on,” Poirier said on “The
MMA Hour.”
Despite no title implications, the UFC 299 co-main event is
scheduled for five rounds, which isn’t unheard of but rather
uncommon. According to “The Diamond, ” he insisted on a
five-rounder because he believes he will have an advantage as the
fight progresses.
“I feel like the better fighter, unless something crazy happens
early, the better fighter wins over five rounds,” he said. “Even if
he doesn’t fatigue, or even if it’s not deep waters to him, he’s
the god of war. That’s what he wants. I feel like the rhythm,
timing, my experience, I pick up on that stuff the longer the fight
goes, and I’ll find openings.”
Poirier also revealed that he was originally offered a slot on the
highly-anticipated UFC
300 card in April. However, the co-main slot at UFC 299 made
more sense to Poirier than a potential card opener at UFC 300.
“I was talking with [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell], and we were
like, maybe the opening of the [UFC 300] pay-per-view, maybe the
second fight of the pay-per-view. And then [UFC 299] we started
talking about, and to be the co-main event, [and] I’m like, that’s
a much bigger slot. It’s close to my training camp, it’s close to
home. … So just I wanted to be part of 300, but this just made
more sense, I think.”
Poirier is coming off a Round 1 knockout loss against Justin
Gaethje in July, which could explain his underdog status
against the “God of War,” who has finished all of his career wins.
Regardless, Poirier isn’t fazed by public opinion or the
oddsmaker’s predictions.
“I’m 35, he’s 28. He finished five guys in a row. He’s finishing
all of his wins in his career,” Poirier said. “Maybe that’s why, I
don’t know. My whole life, I’ve been an underdog. This is where I
performed the best.”