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Anthony Smith believes that the Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier fight is a lot closer than most people believe at the moment. Poirier suffered a brutal knockout loss against Justin Gaethje in July 2023 and is admittedly at the tail end of his career.
'The Diamond' came up short in his previous two title opportunities, suffering third-round submission losses against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. Makhachev, the current UFC lightweight champion is Khabib's teammate and he is perceived as the successor to 'The Eagle'.
Given the outcome of Khabib vs. Poirier, many favor Makhachev to emerge victorious.
While discussing the fight on ESPN, Smith shared his thoughts on the matchup. 'Lionheart' believes that the stylistic difference is such that it will present a lot more opportunities for Poirier when he fights Makhachev. Smith explained:
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"I don't think that it's a cookie cutter as everyone wants to make it seem because there was the Khabib fight with Dustin Poirier. I think that Islam is more willing to engage in more areas than Khabib was. I think across the board, Islam's a better fighter but his style gives Dustin Poirier more opportunities to be successful. If DP can land something big early and get Islam to back off a little bit..."
He added:
"They're different types of wrestlers - Islam and Khabib. They're also different types of strikers. I think that Dustin is very very dangerous on his feet and Islam has already acknowledged that... I think this fight is a lot closer than most people are giving the credit for."
Catch Anthony Smith's comments below (1:10):
Dustin Poirier predicts how the Islam Makhachev fight will end
In his last fight against Benoit Saint-Denis, Dustin Poirier was heavily criticized for jumping the guillotine choke, making the fight a lot more difficult. While Poirier didn't have to pay the price and walked away with a KO in Round 2, the guillotine has become an integral part of his story.
Islam Makhachev recently predicted that Poirier would jump guillotines in their upcoming fight and implied that it would set him up for a finish. In an interview with Yahoo! Sport, Poirier gave his prediction and jokingly admitted that he will jump the guillotines:
"I'm going to knock him unconscious and the ref is going to be pulling me off of him. I gotta do it [jump the guillotine choke]. I've got to jump it at least once. Don't be silly, jump the gilly." [H/T yahoo.com]
Makhachev vs. Poirier will headline the UFC 302 pay-per-view event scheduled to be held on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. At the time of this writing, Poirier is a +400 underdog while Makhachev is a -450 favorite.
Does Dustin Poirier have a chance of beating Islam Makhachev?
