"It was so close" - Dustin Poirier looks back at his UFC lightweight title fight with Khabib

Dustin Poirier recalled his UFC 242 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov and noted that he was incredibly close to defeating The Eagle. Poirier highlighted the tight guillotine choke he had caught Nurmagomedov in during the fight. The UFC Lightweight Champion narrowly escaped the hold to emerge victorious against The Diamond.

Poirier faced Khabib Nurmagomedov for the latter’s Lightweight title at UFC 242 in September 2019. Although The Eagle dominated most of the matchup with his unparalleled grappling skills, the former Interim Lightweight Champion did catch him with a guillotine choke in round three.

Despite coming dangerously close to having to tap out or being choked unconscious, Khabib Nurmagomedov eventually broke free of the guillotine and submitted Poirier in the same round via a rear-naked choke.

Speaking to Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Dustin Poirier shed light upon how close he was to besting Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“Dude, it was so close,” Dustin Poirier said about the guillotine choke he caught Khabib Nurmagomedov in at UFC 242.

Poirier also spoke about his UFC 257 fight against Conor McGregor, stating:

“My plan was to guillotine Conor and change it from Fight Island to Guillotine Island. That was the plan. But I’ll take a knockout” said Poirier.

The Diamond continued by saying he felt that Khabib Nurmagomedov was panicking during their fight and should have gone to full guard.

“Yeah, no, the Khabib fight was close. I should’ve wrapped. I should’ve went full guard. And I felt him panicking…Haven’t finished anybody in the UFC with it. It’s coming. It’s coming. I’m gonna get you…I have a couple variations I do with the guillotine, and man, I submit people all the time; put people unconscious,” said Dustin Poirier.

Additionally, when asked whether he believes that he should have submitted Khabib with the guillotine by going to full guard, Poirier said he regrets not switching to a D'Arce or Anaconda choke when The Eagle rolled to his side. Poirier stated:

”Hindsight, Joe. Hindsight. I just know how close it was. A game of inches. I know how close it was…What haunts me more than the full guard is me not switching to like a D’Arce or Anaconda when he rolled to his side. That’s what gets me more. Why didn’t I punch that arm through?”

Furthermore, Dustin Poirier went on to praise Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier noted:

“So intelligent. People ask me all the time, ‘Is he strong?’ I mean, he’s strong. I don’t know if he’s the strongest guy I’ve ever fought, but he’s strong. They’re all strong. Nothing overwhelming or that really surprises me. It’s just his understanding of balance and weight-placement was incredible, dude. Like, I’ve been fighting and wrestling a long time as well, but he just knew where my weight was and where it needed to be for me to stay up; with his foot trips and uh…It’s hard to explain, man. But he’s good, so good.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

🦅 @TeamKhabib escapes the choke and goes straight to work #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/DnlBTynsdE

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 7, 2019

"Dustin's guillotine was deep!""This sport is about respect, not trash-talk."28-0, undisputed champion 👊Khabib Nurmagomedov reflects on a dominant performance in the main event at #UFC242 pic.twitter.com/dBlR78B32L

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) September 7, 2019

Dustin Poirier plans to fight on, whereas Khabib Nurmagomedov seems unlikely to end his retirement

Dustin Poirier (left); Khabib Nurmagomedov (right)

Dustin Poirier is coming off a huge second-round TKO win over Conor McGregor at UFC 257 in January 2021. Poirier is likely to face McGregor in a trilogy bout later this year.

Meanwhile, the consensus is that Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired from MMA in October 2020, isn’t likely to return to the octagon ever again.

Nothing but respect! 🤝That's 1-1! Who's down for the trilogy?#UFC257 pic.twitter.com/wXvNM1Iam7

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) January 24, 2021