Dustin Poirier is now the UFC interim lightweight champion. He won this title with a riveting decision defeat of reigning UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway in the UFC 236 main event.
With a UFC belt now wrapped round his waist, Dustin Poirier can look forward to a title unifying showdown with undisputed champion Khabib Nurmagomedov — perhaps as soon as September.
“Yes, that’s the fight,” UFC President White said of this matchup after UFC 236 (via MMA Fighting). “Poirier will fight Khabib next. Probably in September.
“Some guys have the Israel Adesanya path and the Conor McGregor path and some have the Poirier path,” White added. “If you look, I don’t remember what the numbers were, but Chuck Liddell had to go through that same thing and then Tito (Ortiz) wouldn’t fight him and there’s been a lot of guys — Tony Ferguson, look at the bad luck that guy’s had. And the list goes on and on, some people it works out for and some people have longer roads.
“Poirier has stayed the path and trained hard and done what he’s had to do to to get here and tonight was his night. He fought an incredible fighter and he won. Unless something happens to Dustin Poirier, he gets hurt or gets injured or something happens, he’s got the fight.”
The early odds for this anticipated Dustin Poirier vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov title fight have now been released. Despite Poirier’s incredible performance against Holloway, he’s not being given much of a chance by the oddsmakers.
Online bookmaker BetOnline has identified Poirier as a +205 underdog (bet $100 to win $205), while the undisputed champ Nurmagomedov is sitting at -240 (bet $240 to win $100).
- Khabib Nurmagomedov: -240
- Dustin Poirier: +205
Who do you think will come out on top when Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier fight later this year?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/16/2019.