Arman
Tsarukyan isn’t counting out Dustin
Poirier in his upcoming
UFC 302 title fight against Islam
Makhachev.
Poirier challenges Makhachev for the lightweight title in the main
event at UFC 302 on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New
Jersey. Poirier previously suffered a submission loss in a foiled
championship bid against Makhachev’s teammate and mentor Khabib
Nurmagomedov at UFC
242 in 2019. Given the similarity of style between both
Dagestanis, Poirier is a massive underdog heading into UFC 302.
Makhachev also arguably has developed a cleaner striking skillset
than Nurmagomedov over the years. According to Makhachev, teammate
and Bellator
MMA lightweight champ Usman
Nurmagomedov has better striking than Poirier. Regardless,
Tsarukyan believes standing up against Poirier will be a dangerous
game to play for Makhachev. While Tsarukyan expects Makhachev to
successfully execute his obvious game plan against Poirier, the
Armenian-Russian could also put his money on “The Diamond.”
“I see like Islam gonna try to push him to the cage, to try to take
him down and, try to hold him, submit him. But if he can’t do that,
it’s gonna be dangerous. If he wants to box him, I think Dustin
Poirier on a different level — his punch, his speed, he can knock
him out very fast,” Tsarukyan New York Post Sports. “That’s why Islam’s gotta try to
take him down right away. So yeah, for me, the favorite is Islam,
on this fight but I can put money on Dustin Poirier KO, because it
could be happen.”
Tsarukyan had originally earned the title shot with a
split-decision win over Charles
Oliveira in a title eliminator at UFC
300 last month. However, he turned it down, citing the quick
turnaround as Makhachev was adamant about fighting this summer.
Having already suffered a loss against Makhachev in his
short-notice UFC debut in 2019, “Ahalkalakets” wants a full camp to
prepare for the rematch.