Dustin
Poirier surpassed everyone’s expectations at UFC 302
— including those of
American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez.
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Poirier challenged Islam
Makhachev for the lightweight title in the main event at UFC
302 on Saturday in his third bid for undisputed gold. A massive
underdog going into the event, Poirier was widely expected to be
dominated by Makhachev as he was by Khabib
Nurmagomedov in 2019.
When Poirier was taken down early and controlled for the majority
of the opening frame, the result seemed like a forgone conclusion.
However, “The Diamond” bounced back in the second round, denying
Makhachev multiple takedowns to give the champ a stern test. While
Poirier submitted to a brabo choke from Makhachev in the fifth
round, the Louisiana native surprised fans and pundits alike by
making the fight as close as he did.
Mendez, who was in Makhachev’s corner, admits to being surprised by
Poirier’s performance, as well. While Mendez had expected a tough
fight in the worst-case scenario, it turned out to be even tougher
than his expectations.
“I expected Dustin, worst case for us, that he was gonna be a tough
fight, worst case,” Mendez said on his YouTube channel. “OK. My
worst case became even more of a worst case because he was a
tougher fight than I expected. I really didn’t expect it to be as
tough, this was a really tough fight. I felt confident all the way
through. I felt no nerves going into the fight.”
While they were mostly respectful in the lead up, things got a
little heated between Makhachev and Poirier during a pre-fight
face-off. Poirier called Makhachev a “motherf—-er,” which the champ
took an issue with and sternly asked “The Diamond” to refrain from
using that profanity.
However, they appeared to bury the hatchet after the fight, as
Poirier was seen hugging it out with both Makhachev and
Nurmagomedov. Mendez revealed that Poirier apologized to Makhachev
for cursing after he realized the significance of his words in the
Dagestani’s cultural context.
“Because in Dagestan the words motherf’er, it’s not taken as
nonchalant like it is here,” Mendez said. “You call somebody a
motherf’er, that’s like your best friend, you know, ‘Hey
motherf’er, how you doing?’ You know, here you take it as
different. Over there, no no, you don’t play with that. And Dustin
realized that was the case, so he went and apologized. Man hats off
to him, what a class act, what a class act. His corner is a class
act also.”