When Islam Makhachev predicted surreal fight-ending sequence for Dustin Poirier bout before official booking for UFC 302
With his third title defense scheduled for UFC 302 in June, Islam Makhachev is confident he will retain his belt in a familiar fashion.
In an interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie back in March before the fight had been official, Makhachev named Dustin Poirier as the fighter he would like to defend his title against in June. As Bohn asked the Dagestani how he felt the proposed fight would play out, Makhachev gave his prediction:
"I will take him down. He will try a guillotine and I will take his back and choke him."
In the conversation, Makhachev joked that Poirier would make a good opponent for him in an upcoming lightweight title fight because he admires the latter's "good guillotine."
The ongoing joke from Makhachev sparked from Poirier's repeated ill-advised attempts at the guillotine choke submission in his UFC 299 co-main event bout with Benoit Saint-Denis. In the fight, Poirier's coaches pleaded with him to stop attempting the move as he was finding success with his striking, but the American continued to do so before he found a knockout in the second round.
Watch the full video of Islam Makhachev's interview with MMA Junkie on YouTube below:
Islam Makhachev predicts he will beat Dustin Poirier the same way as Khabib Nurmagomedov
Though Islam Makhachev's prediction of his ideal finishing sequence against Dustin Poirier was largely based on the latter's fight with Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299, the exchange the champion laid out has happened before.
In the main event of UFC 242, Poirier faced then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev's close friend and former teammate. In a semi-competitive fight, Nurmagomedov shot for a takedown in the third round that 'The Diamond' attempted to counter with a guillotine.
After escaping the submission, Nurmagomedov quickly transitioned to the back and finished the fight with a rear-naked choke to defend his title.
Since losing to Nurmagomedov, Poirier has gone 5-2 to find himself in his third attempt at undisputed gold. After wins over Dan Hooker and Conor McGregor, Poirier received his second shot at UFC 269 against Charles Oliveira but lost again by submission in the third round.