Dustin Poirier gets his second chance at becoming UFC lightweight champion against current champion, Charles Oliveira, this Saturday at UFC 269 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
One popular narrative going into this fight however is whether or not Oliveira will fade like he did in some of his previous losses earlier in his career.
During media day, Poirier addressed this question and previewed Oliveira as an opponent.
“Numbers don’t lie,” Poirier said. “He’s the most dangerous ever to hit the canvas in the UFC and we didn’t put that aside in training camp. We really focused on defense and the fight IQ on the ground and where I’m at in the rounds and risks we need to take. So he’s very dangerous.”
“You know, he’s dangerous,” Poirier added. “He throws big knees. Big kicks. Power shots. He keeps himself protected, throws a good sharp hook, that he hit (Michael) Chandler with. He does a lot of things well on the feet. Not a big volume puncher. Not the best footwork. But very aggressive and not a point fighter, you know. He’s trying to finish you.”
As far as the narrative going into this fight that Oliveira still has quit in him, Poirier says he’s only going off Oliveira’s last fight, which earned him the UFC lightweight championship.
“I mean if it’s in there, we’ll find out, but I can’t bank on that. We’ll see, he showed grit in his last fight against Chandler. He got hurt, almost got finished, came back and knocked the guy out. So your last fight is the one I go off of and showed championship grit.”
