MMA News: Dustin Poirier gives his prediction on Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor UFC 229 fight

What's the story?

Dustin Poirier fresh off the heels of a win over former UFC Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

The two clashed at UFC Calgary late last month, and Poirier is now set to meet Nate Diaz in the co-main event of UFC 230, which will be held inside Madison Square Garden in New York City in November.

In case you didn't know...

However, the fight that everyone is waiting for is that of Khabib Nurmagomedov against Conor McGregor, which takes place at UFC 229 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The aforementioned matchup is being touted by experts as the biggest fight of the 2018 calendar year.

The heart of the matter

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour (*courtesy MMAFighting) Poirier gave his assessment of the match-up--

“I’m kinda leaning toward Khabib. I just don’t know if he’s going to stop Conor or whatnot, but I’m thinking he’s going to get the victory. I mean, he (McGregor) has a huge chance. He’s got great timing, great judge of distance."

"We’ll just see if the takedown defense holds up and the cardio holds up. That’s all he has to do. The openings will be there, but he just has to stand the test of the wrestling and the conditioning, the physical part that Khabib’s going to put on early in the fight.”

As we already know Nurmagomedov captured the 155-pound gold back in April--He was supposed to meet Tony Ferguson at UFC 223, but "El Cucuy" went down with an injury.

Max Holloway then stepped up, but he was pulled as well due to weight cutting issues. Finally, Al Iaquinta filled in and Nurmagomedov ended up nabbing a unanimous decision victory.

What's next?

Conor McGregor meanwhile comes from legal problems stemming from the blunt object he threw against the competitors' bus at the press conference before the UFC 223 event.

Due to this several fights were canceled, however now that his situation has been clarified he is ready to return to the octagon in search of recovering the title.

What are your thoughts on Dustin Poirier's statements? Sound off in the comments!