Dustin Poirier picks his winner of Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje at UFC 249

Dustin Poirier shared who he thinks will be winning in the bout between Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson, who are about to fight it out for the Lightweight interim belt at UFC 249.

After Khabib Nurmagomedov had to pull out of the event due to the coronavirus lockdown and travel bans in his native Russia, UFC went with 'The Highlight' to step in and save the day.

Poirier shared with MMA Junkie who is his bet in this violent clash.

Poirier picks Gaethje over Ferguson

While Poirier acknowledged the ability to cause damage in both the fighters, he is pretty positive about Gaethje coming out victorious. He revealed that he thinks Ferguson is going to be knocked out and finished by Gaethje inside the Octagon, despite both going reckless and landing big shots at each other.

"I think (Gaethje is) going to knock Tony out. Both guys on the technical side of it don’t have the most crisp technique when it comes to kickboxing, but they’re both very damaging fighters. They both go in with reckless abandonment of their own self to land the big shots. I just think Gaethje is going to land something big on the inside and hurt Tony, man. I really do. We’ve seen Tony hurt a few times. I just think Gaethje is going to be the one to finish him."

If that really happens, it would bring an end to Ferguson's impressive 12-win streak that earned him a title shot against 'The Eagle'. The fans have been eager to see that contest for a while now, but it keeps getting canceled for different reasons, the deadly pandemic being the fifth and the latest one.

A loss to Gaethje would put 36-year-old Ferguson's title aspirations pretty much in the grave, but Poirier does not feel very bad about that. It is part and parcel of the game, he said.

"Nah (I wouldn’t feel bad), that’s fighting. You take the risk. We’ll see what happens. That’s just fighting. It’s so unpredictable."