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#2: Dustin Poirier
A former Featherweight, Dustin Poirier moved to 155lbs in 2015 and since then he’s gone from strength-to-strength, winning 8 of 10 fights there, with the only negative results coming via a knockout loss to Michael Johnson and a wild brawl with Eddie Alvarez that ended in a No Contest when Alvarez stunned Poirier with a series of illegal knees.
‘The Diamond’ is on an incredibly hot streak right now though – he’s taken out former champion Anthony Pettis, top contender Justin Gaethje, and most recently took his revenge over Alvarez with a second-round TKO. He’s essentially the top contender in the division behind Tony Ferguson right now – meaning a fight with Cerrone could make a lot of sense.
Probably best described as a ‘technical brawler’, Poirier loves to trade off with his opponent but he’s a much cleaner striker than some might realise, able to string combinations together and go to the head and body with equal venom. And he’s also an accomplished grappler – 6 of his 24 wins have come via submission.
A fight with Cerrone would simply be a fight fan’s dream match – both men don’t know the meaning of backing down, and simply love to trade blows until their opponent is no longer standing. Durability has been a question mark for both men in the past, too – meaning the likelihood of this one reaching the final buzzer would be pretty low.
