Dustin Poirier warns Islam Makhachev to not repeat the mistakes he made in his "goofy" UFC loss
Dustin Poirier has addressed the lone loss on Islam Makhachev's professional MMA record. Heading into their highly-anticipated title showdown, Poirier seemingly cautioned Makhachev against repeating the mistakes he made in that fight.
The 35-year-old Poirier (30 wins, 8 losses, 1 no contest) is a former interim UFC lightweight champion. On the other hand, the 32-year-old Makhachev (25 wins, 1 loss) is the reigning undisputed UFC lightweight champion. While Poirier has suffered multiple stoppage defeats (three via KO/TKO and three by submission), Makhachev has been finished just once.
The only defeat that Makhachev has suffered in his MMA career thus far came against Brazil's Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in Oct. 2015. Dagestan's Makhachev, who was a relatively inexperienced striker at the time, fell victim to Martins' right hook counter and lost via first-round KO.
Makhachev hasn't lost since and is on a 13-fight win streak. The southpaw captured the UFC lightweight title in Oct. 2022 and has notched two successful title defenses. Presently, Makhachev is booked to defend his title against Poirier in the headlining match of UFC 302 on June 1, 2024.
Watch Makhachev's KO defeat below:
On Fox Sports' Main Event, Dustin Poirier was recently asked about Makhachev's lone career loss, which came against the southpaw Martins. Poirier, too, primarily fights as a southpaw.
On that note, 'The Diamond' was asked whether he would take away any lessons from Martins' performance, or simply do his own thing against Makhachev. Poirier responded by suggesting that Makhachev has significantly improved since that loss and is currently a different fighter.
Nevertheless, the Louisianian warned that if Makhachev charged at him as he did against Martins, he'd catch him. Poirier stated:
"I think the Islam I'm fighting Saturday night is a different guy than we saw in that time he lost. He was kind of fumbling, and his weight was over his feet. He was running in, kind of goofy, and got hit with a good shot. But definitely, if he's lunging in and covering space like that recklessly, I'll throw check hooks all day."
Check out Poirier's comments below (2:53):
Dustin Poirier's eerie warning before UFC 302 fight against Islam Makhachev
Dustin Poirier's previous attempts at capturing the undisputed UFC lightweight title ended in third-round submission defeats against Khabib Nurmagomedov (Sept. 2019) and Charles Oliveira (Dec. 2021). His title shot against Islam Makhachev would mark his third attempt to secure the elusive undisputed 155-pound championship.
As reported by Ben Fowlkes of Yahoo Sports, Makhachev recently indicated that he will attempt to take Poirier down and may have to defend against a guillotine choke attempt. He visualized overcoming the submission attempt, utilizing ground and pound to make 'The Diamond' give up his back, and then choking him out.
In a subsequent conversation with Ben Fowlkes, Poirier was asked for his response, to which he issued a fearsome knockout prediction. 'The Diamond' asserted:
"I'm gonna knock [Makhachev] unconscious, and the ref is gonna be pulling me off of him."
Watch Dustin Poirier's assessment below: