UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has been on an unbelievable tear in the ultra-competitive 155-pound division, and his boxing coach has a good idea of one of the reasons behind it.
“The Diamond” has beaten some of the best fighters in the planet at lightweight including Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez and most recently defeated Max Holloway to win the interim title and propel himself into a unification bout against undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year.
Poirier’s boxing coach at American Top Team, Dyah Davis, recently spoke to BJPenn.com and praised his fighter’s ability to maintain his stamina throughout a fight. While Davis is aware fans know Poirier for his boxing ability and power, he commended his ability — in particular against Holloway — to land big shots in the final rounds of a five-round fight:
“What’s crazy is with Dustin, his stamina threshold is crazy,” Davis said. “He can go long and still have power late. Most guys tend to fade with their power once they start to get a little fatigued, once the stamina decreases so does the power. But Dustin gets stronger as the fight goes on so we knew it was gonna be a good fight for him. Especially with five rounders, we always look forward to it. He’s been scheduled for five rounders but never actually went the distance. We always knew he could sustain that power late.”
Poirier is expected to take on Nurmagomedov to unify the lightweight belts later this year when the UFC will be making its return to Abu Dhabi on Sept. 7 for UFC 242.