[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] thinks if there’s one man at the moment with a chance to dethrone [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag], it’s [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag].
Poirier (25-6 MMA, 17-5 UFC) is familiar with both guys, having taken out Gaethje in a “Fight of the Night” effort in 2018 and falling short to UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) by third-round submission last September.
It’s going to take someone who is able to stop Nurmagomedov’s offensive grappling, and Poirier thinks that, out of the current lightweights, Gaethje (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has the best chance with his NCAA Division I wrestling background.
“Off the top of my head right now, I think Justin Gaethje (could beat Nurmagomedov),” Poirier said on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.” “I think he might have the ability to keep his back off the fence and keep it in the middle, and if he does get taken down, scramble back up. I think guys like that who are going to take risks and brawl and have the hips and the wrestling knowledge to stay up would give him problems.”
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Nurmagomedov has been dominant in pretty much every one of his fights. And while he faces a stern test in the wild and tough Tony Ferguson on April 18 at UFC 249, Poirier thinks his wrestling will be too much for Ferguson.
“I think Khabib beats Ferguson,” Poirier said. “It’s MMA, anything could happen, nothing’s for sure, but I just think he’s going to be the better competitor. I think if Kevin Lee was able to out-wrestle Tony, and I think Danny Castillo did the same thing, (Khabib is) definitely going to be able to do it.”
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