"I see him being overconfident sometimes" - Dustin Poirier says he'll knock Charles Oliveira out if he makes mistakes in their UFC 269 title fight
Dustin Poirier has vowed to make Charles Oliveira pay if the champion makes the mistake of being too brazen in their upcoming lightweight championship fight at UFC 269.
Poirier claims he sees errors in Oliveira's game which he hopes to capitalize on. During an interview with Michael Bisping for BT Sport, he broke down how he sees himself winning the undisputed title. 'The Diamond' stated:
"I take advantage of the mistakes that this guy makes. You know, over-reaching on shots, trying to throw too much power. Just being in the moment and fighting to my abilities, I beat this guy. I see him being overconfident sometimes... The alarm is not going off when he's standing in front of guys. His head's up and he's trying to put them away but not worried about his defense. And if he does that in front of me, I'll knock him out."
Check out Dustin Poirier's interview with Michael Bisping below:
Oliveira was almost finished by Michael Chandler in the first round of their title fight at UFC 262. However, the Brazilian mounted an admirable comeback in the second round to capture the lightweight crown.
Many believe that Poirier is the uncrowned king of the lightweight division. After all, he could've challenged for the belt sooner, but chose to sign up for the more lucrative trilogy bout with Conor McGregor instead.
Despite being the challenger, Poirier is the slight betting favorite heading into UFC 269. The Louisiana native is listed on multiple betting sites as a -160 favorite, leaving Oliveira as the +140 underdog.
Charles Oliveira's coach thinks Dustin Poirier is 'very afraid' of the Brazilian's ground game
Charles Oliveira's coach Diego Lima has revealed that his student has plenty of tricks up his sleeve going into his bout with Dustin Poirier. Appearing on MMA Fighting's Trocação Franca podcast, he said:
"We have someone who’s very afraid of Charles’ ground [game]. In my opinion, Dustin Poirier doesn’t really want to take this fight to the ground. People that watch Charles’ fights and Poirier’s fights will say, ‘F***, Poirier better keep this fight on the feet.'"
However, Dustin Poirier claims he's well-prepared for Oliveira's grappling offense. In his interview with Michael Bisping, Poirier cited the first time he fought for the undisputed lightweight belt against Khabib Nurmagomedov. He claims to have learned from his loss at UFC 242 where he was choked out by 'The Eagle'.
Poirier said his training camp was designed to help him learn to get out of "bad positions." He discussed how he is willing to lose a round in order to win the fight, rather than attempt to salvage a round that he is losing.