Dustin Poirier has opened up on what makes Charles Oliveira a tough opponent. ‘El Diamante’ praised Oliveira for his perseverance and pointed out the similarities between his career and that of ‘Da Bronx'.
Speaking to MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura, Poirier highlighted that Charles Oliveira is “very dangerous". With many in the MMA community underestimating Oliveira ahead of UFC 269, Poirier stated:
“Yeah, man, I don’t like that.” Reiterating that he himself isn’t underestimating Oliveira, Poirier continued, “I don’t wanna get caught up in that mindset, like, a fight is a fight. And this guy is very dangerous. He has so many finishes in the UFC; so much experience. And I’m not, you know, putting that aside. This is a huge fight for him, for his legacy, for me, for my legacy. And all the experience throughout our whole career has built up to this fight. And the guy’s very dangerous and very capable. And yeah, that’s all I got to say, man. I respect his journey to get where he’s at to be the undisputed champ because I have a similar one.”
“We both had our hurdles that we had to get over, and both had to pick ourselves off the canvas multiple times. But we’ve both shown, I feel like, flashes of being a great fighter; flashes of brilliance in other fights. He’s shown exceptional capabilities that he has in spurts in different fights. And I feel like I have done the same. And maybe, he’s putting it all together now on this streak he’s on; the world champion. I’m obviously, personally, I feel great; incredible, mentally and physically. So, I think I’m putting it together. You might have two guys with a lot of experience at the top of their games really fighting for the lightweight belt here. This is a big fight.”
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Dustin Poirier also indicated Charles Oliveira is a skilled grappler and striker. Regardless, ‘El Diamante’ has maintained he plans to beat Oliveira and win the title come fight night.
Watch Dustin Poirier talk about Charles Oliveira in the video below:
Dustin Poirier could fight Conor McGregor for the fourth time in 2022
Dustin Poirier is set to fight reigning UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 on December 11th. Meanwhile, MMA megastar Conor McGregor recently tweeted he’ll return in 2022 and will fight whoever is then holding the lightweight belt.
McGregor also emphasized his rivalry with ‘El Diamante’ is far from over. ‘Notorious’ alluded to fighting Poirier for the fourth time and ending their feud.
Dustin Poirier leads his series of fights against Conor McGregor by a 2-1 margin. McGregor is recovering from a leg injury and is expected to fight again in mid-2022. Poirier, on his part, has been open to facing the Irishman again.