Dustin Poirier takes his third stab at becoming undisputed lightweight champion when he faces Islam Makhachev in the UFC 301 main event on Saturday.
The title fight happens just under five years removed from Poirier’s first crack at the belt, which came against Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2019. That fight ended when Nurmagomedov secured grappling superiority over Poirier and locked in a rear-naked choke to finish the job in the third round.
Now Poirier has to figure out how to get past Makhachev, a fighter often compared to Nurmagomedov. Considering they’ve been teammates and training partners throughout their entire careers, and both employ a ground-heavy style to maul most of their opponents, it’s an understandable parallel.
Mike Brown, who coached Poirier against Nurmagomedov and will do the same for the Makhachev fight in June, understands why the Russians might seem like mirror images of each other, but he promises that’s not exactly the case.
“Similar styles, but the techniques they use are quite different,” Brown told MMA Fighting. “I think Islam uses a lot more upper body trips and Khabib took a lot more shots. I think Islam’s striking looks maybe sharper, looks cleaner, but it’s not to say Khabib’s striking wasn’t effective. Sometimes he was maybe a little unconventional, but he wasn’t a bad striker.
“There’s been times where [Nurmagomedov] was criticized but he was winning. The famous case when he was kind of criticized in the Al Iaquinta fight, but he was winning those rounds striking even though it kind of looked a little unorthodox. That’s just some guys’ style. Not everybody fights the exact same way. There are differences.”
Brown acknowledges that the ultimate goal for Nurmagomedov and Makhachev typically ended the same, with a takedown followed by vicious ground-and-pound, multiple submission attempts, or sometimes both.
That much is true, but Brown won’t look at Makhachev through the exact same lens he did for Nurmagomedov.
“Similarities in their game plan, where for the most part, they’re looking to take you down and maul you for five rounds,” Brown said. “They both have really good conditioning and they’re good at it. But how they do it is a little bit different.”
Because Poirier came up short in two previous bids at becoming undisputed champion, and now approaches his 36th birthday next year, many believe this could be his final opportunity to claim a UFC title.
It’s impossible to predict that with any level of certainty, because even Poirier would likely admit he probably didn’t expect a title shot after falling to Justin Gaethje by knockout back in July 2023, and then beating a lower-ranked opponent in Benoit Saint Denis in March.
Brown acknowledged that Poirier’s lifetime achievements likely played a part in this particular opportunity, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In the past nine years since becoming a lightweight, Poirier has earned 11 post-fight bonuses, including seven for Fight of the Night. He’s headlined 11 different events, including six pay-per-views.
Poirier has also remained one of the most popular and well-liked fighters on the entire roster, which definitely counts for something.
“Nobody deserves it more than this guy,” Brown said. “He’s put in the time, he’s put in the miles. He’s done the work. Battle-tested, 100 percent against the toughest guys. The most world champions that I think anybody’s ever fought. This guy has fought the who’s who of the lightweight division, the featherweight division.”
With only a couple of weeks remaining until the fight happens, Brown knows Poirier is pouring everything into his preparation, and he expects this will be the moment when the Louisiana native can finally celebrate becoming an undisputed UFC champion.
“Third time’s the charm,” Brown said. “He’s got nothing to lose and I think that he’s very confident. He is very dangerous. Every time he steps out there, it’s 25 hard-hitting minutes. This guy comes in shape, he’s got some of the best conditioning I think in the sport. He hits hard as hell. He’s got a wealth of experience. A wealth of title experience, five-rounders.
“This guy is ready. This guy is ready for any style, any body type. He’s seen it all, and more often than not, he’s coming out on top. We’ll see which side the coin lands on, but this guy wins a lot of them.”
