Former UFC lightweight challenger Dustin Poirieri admitted he was impressed by the dominant victory of the new lightweight king Islam Makhachev over Charles Oliveira.
The Dagestan fighter submitted the Brazilian in October at UFC 280 in the second round, becoming the second UFC lightweight champion from Russia after his friend, mentor and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Poirier has lost to both Khabib and Charles and he knows pretty well what its like to fight the very best of the division.
“Man, very impressed,” Poirier told Yahoo Sports. “Very impressed. He went in there and did it as smooth as you can possibly go in there and do it. You know, no marks, no cuts, no bruises, and he’s a world champion. That’s a sweet night, man. I’m very impressed with him.”
“I mean, it’s huge,” Poirier said. “You know, you can’t be – in this day and age in mixed martial arts, you can’t be a fighter who has one thing. You have to be able to do it all. You have to be a mixed martial artist, and he showed that. He went out there and hurt Charles and then put him away at his own game. That’s the highest level.”
