UFC 269 is just a few days away and the excitement for the card is through the roof amongst the fans. It will be the last Pay Per View (PPV) event of the year and it promises to be one of the most entertaining fight cards of the entire year. It has two title fights in the forms of Charles Oliveira vs Dustin Poirier and Amanda Nunes vs Juliana Pena.
However, the 155 lbs championship fight is the one that fans have been buzzing about. Both fighters are at the height of their powers and are at the height of their popularity. The current champion Charles Oliveira won the belt on UFC 262 in a 2 round slugfest with Michael Chandler. Before being in the position to fight for the belt, he fought Kevin Lee and Tony Ferguson in two back to back fights.
The last PPV of the year is ALMOST HERE ????
[ #UFC269 | Saturday | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/bN0K8eAW0O ] pic.twitter.com/Izmc7dNNE2
— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2021
The challenger Dustin Poirier is on the run of his life. He has beaten the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway and Dan Hooker in the last few fights. He got the first opportunity to fight for the title on UFC 242. But he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov. But he bounced back against Dan Hooker.
However, the crown jewel of this career came in January of 2021 when he defeated Conor McGregor on UFC 257. He avenged his loss to the Irishman and handed him the first TKO loss of his career. The Louisiana native repeated the result on UFC 264 and beat McGregor once again.
Dustin Poirier vs Charles Oliveira: How Does the Fight Playout?
The fight is a stylistic match-up of epic proportions. It has two fighters whose weaknesses are the strengths of their opposition. The champion Charles Oliveira is a wizard on the ground. He is an accomplished grappler with a black belt under Jorge Patino. Whereas Dustin Poirier is susceptible to submissions.
But the challenger Dustin Poirier is a striking maestro who knocked out Conor McGregor twice. McGregor is highly regarded as the best boxer in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. But Dustin’s triumph over him has given the 32-year old the recognition his striking skills deserve.
Although the fight has the potential to be best if this calendar year. But might also turn out to be a technical chess game. Charles Oliveira will look to protect his chin against the power of Dustin Poirier. While thr challenger will look to stay on the outside and get his jab going. It will be important for Dustin to dictate the pace of the fight. If he let’s Oliveira take the charge, then a submission is inevitable.