UFC Hall of Famer, Daniel Cormier, interviewed the two men set to headline the UFC 291 card in Salt Lake City, former UFC interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje, also the former interim Lightweight Champion.
The similarities between these two warriors do not end there. Since their last fight in Glendale, Arizona, back in April 2018, both men have amassed 6-2 records which includes four finishes for each, with the losses for both men coming against former champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. Interestingly, both men have defeated the current TUF 31 coach Michael Chandler in highly entertaining contests.
Poirier has already left Louisiana and is preparing for the fight from his base in Florida. He took some time between sessions to speak on the DC and RC show on the ESPN MMA Youtube Channel alongside Justin Gaethje. The host, Daniel Cormier, asked ‘The Diamond’ why they were fighting on the Salt Lake City card instead of the upcoming card in Vancouver.
”The Vancouver thing, [card] we were talking about it with the UFC. A contract never came through; it never materialized. When Oliveira got hurt, they switched that [postponed his fight with Beneil Dariush] to the co-main spot under Amanda Nunes, and they kinda stopped talking about it [the Gaethje fight]. Then they [the UFC] brought this date up to me [July 29], and it worked for me because my daughter will be out of school, so I can do a training camp with my family”.
Gaethje then said June would’ve been too soon for him as he needed some extra time to recover from his decision victory against Rafael Fiziev at UFC on March 18, so he couldn’t train for a while. July 29 was also more convenient for him.
Attention then turned to the fighter’s thoughts on fighting for the BMF title. Gaethje said that he was now(surprising to some) pursuing the strap.
”I mean, it’s a prestigious title; only one guy has ever won it, you know, Jorge Masvidal, [a] legend, a vet in the game. You’ll find past interviews of me being a little bit critical of the BMF title. As we come along and as I get put in the position to fight for it, you really understand how prestigious this championship is and what it actually means”.
Gaethje then went on to say how he thinks winning the belt will lead to a title shot at the undisputed lightweight crown, something which has evaded both him and Poirier thus far in their established careers inside the octagon. The winner will likely have to wait on the sidelines for a while as the winner of Oliveira and Dariush will likely get the next shot at the Lightweight Champion, Islam Makhachev.
The interview host, Daniel Cormier, teased Gaethje, claiming he’d changed his tune regarding the BMF title because he was now fighting for the strap. A smiling Gaethje said:
”With it being so prestigious [the BMF title], I mean, you don’t want to say it’s even more prestigious than a UFC title, but it actually is. Nobody is fighting for this. It takes the resume of Dustin Poirier and the resume of Justin Gaethje [to fight for the crown] and force(s) it to headline a main event.”
Poirier agreed with Gaethje, saying that match-ups of this nature warranted the belt being on the line. The respect between the two was evident throughout the eighteen-minute interview, with ‘The Diamond’ even saying that he was a fan of his next opponent, unlike his previous opponent Michael Chandler who he thought ‘was fake.’
Gaethje told Cormier there was no need for animosity in the build-up to this fight. He recognizes the skill of Poirier and acknowledged that he’d have to be at his very best to avenge his 2018 loss. In a dig at Conor McGregor, ‘The Highlight’ said he was impressed by Poirier’s performance in the two recent fights and was happy to see McGregor ‘get broken.’
With the mouth-watering fight less than two months away, the card for UFC 291 is looking stacked with fighters such as Alex Pereira, Derrick Lewis, and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson all set to feature on the main card. There are rarely any certainties in the UFC, but you can hang your hat on Poirier and Gaethje delivering a violent, high-level war.
Discussion about this post