mma / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction: Is Dustin Poirier Getting the Next Title Shot?

April 19, 2018 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! I’m your host, Lorenzo Vasquez III, and it is my pleasure to bring you another thunderous edition of Fact or Fiction MMA! Thank you, for your votes and comments the last time around, it is appreciated. Please, do not hesitate to give us a piece of your mind this week. The last fact or fiction outing saw “Handsome” Dan Plunkett swipe Alex Rella off the road down into the depths of hell. It was a vicious beating; nonetheless, thank you, Dan and Alex, for your efforts and contribution.

This week, Dino Zee returns hungry to get back into the win column. He’ll have to outstrike the brazin’ killing machine, Wyatt Beougher. These two will lock horns over Khabib Nurmagomedov’s next opponent, Conor McGregor getting away with the world, Holly Holm fighting in the UFC’s first non-title women’s featherweight bout, and much more! Grab some grub and strap in! It’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA!

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
Wyatt Beougher
Host/Reviewer/Columnist, 411 MMA/TV & Movies/Wrestling Zones
4-12-1

VS

BLUE CORNER
Dino “Salad Bar” Zee
Contributor, 411 Wrestling Zone
13-1-3


With Tony Ferguson recuperating from surgery and Conor McGregor taking himself out of the picture, for the time being, Dustin Poirier is the next best option for Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Wyatt Beougher: FACT I went with FACT here, but if Eddie Alvarez is healthy, I could see the UFC making Alvarez/Khabib instead, just to give some semblance of meaning to their official rankings. That said, I can also see why they might pass on that fight, since Alvarez did land illegal knees to Poirier’s head last May that resulted in Poirier being unable to continue the fight (not to mention the fact that his last fight prior to that No Contest against Poirier was a loss to Conor McGregor). Back to the rankings, with Edson Barboza basically out of the running after losing to Khabib back in December, the next fighter in line would be Poirier, so “The Diamond” certainly makes sense for Khabib’s first title defense. Since losing to McGregor back in September of 2014, Poirier has compiled a 7-1 record, with the aforementioned No Contest against Alvarez the only blemish on his record since 2017 started and three wins in that same time frame. That gives him more momentum than any other lightweight in the top five save Ferguson, who, as mentioned, is recovering from surgery. There’s also the fact that Dana White said he’d never book Khabib/Ferguson ever again, though the UFC figurehead has failed to live up to his word countless times in the past, so I don’t put a lot of stock in that particular proclamation.

Honestly, after briefly being announced for UFC 223, the fight that I really want to see is Khabib vs Max Holloway. The undisputed featherweight champion hasn’t lost a fight since 2013, and that was against McGregor, so if the former lightweight champion can manage to get his house in order, there’s an immediate selling point for a rematch should Holloway win the lightweight title. But I realize that short of another lightweight title fight falling through, there’s little chance Holloway actually gets a crack at becoming a two-division champion, so I’m sticking with FACT as far as Poirier being Khabib’s first challenger.

Dino Zee: FACT If we’re ignoring the GSP callout or any welterweight options, then yes. And for the record, that’s exactly how I’m operating on this question. The 155 Title needs to be acknowledged and validated by the new champion, which means taking on top contenders. I love Poirier, was surprised that he survived Gaethje (WSOF FOR LIFE, BABY!!!), and feel that he’s more than made the case for a shot at the title. And no, just because I think Khabib grabs Dustin and mauls him on the mat until 25 minutes are up / the stoppage comes, that doesn’t mean the man doesn’t deserve the shot he’s earned. Sometimes there are just bad matchups for top challengers. Sometimes huge upsets take place, too.

And while Eddie Alvarez currently sits higher than Poirier, the way the fight at UFC 211 went down between the two, I’d lean giving Poirier the shot at Khabib over Eddie. If Eddie wants the shot, he needs to prove that he can beat Poirier, which he most certainly did not do when they last fought.


Justin Gaethje, now 1-2 in the UFC, was feed to the top dogs too early when he should have been fighting guys lower on the ladder before jumping into the top five of the division.

Wyatt Beougher: FICTION I went back and forth on this one, as Gaethje looked so dominant in WSOF that I can understand why he was matched up with quality opponents right from the start. Plus, after he beat Michael Johnson, who could easily be considered the gatekeeper of the lightweight division and was ranked in the UFC’s top ten at the time, in his debut, I’m sure it made sense at the time to throw him in the cage with Eddie Alvarez and see just how good he was actually going to be inside the Octagon. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to say that Gaethje was rushed to the top of the division too early, but he acquitted himself well against Alvarez and was arguably ahead on the cards prior to Alvarez landing a desperation knee that finished the fight. And against Dustin Poirier, Gaethje again more than held his own and was likely even on the scorecards prior to being finished by Poirier in the fourth frame. With that in mind, I can’t agree that Gaethje was rushed to the top of the division too quickly. He’s handled himself well in the cage and while he’s been finished in both of his losses, if he can dial back his aggression slightly when he goes in for the kill (or at least stop sacrificing his striking defense), I think he’ll have a great deal of success in the lightweight division.

Dino Zee: FICTION Absolutely not. As evidenced by my answer above, I LOVE Justin Gaethje. I watched World Series of Fighting from the start and was on his bandwagon after his first fight. Like a Marlon Moraes, I wanted to see how he’d do in the UFC, especially with his “I don’t care how many times I get hit” approach to fighting. Sure, he’s 1-2, but all 3 fights were incredibly fun and incredibly competitive. He has yet to be blown out. And he nearly had Alvarez and Poirier in big trouble at various points in their fights. He’s acquitted himself quite well in the UFC, he’s just been fed all-action fighters that were willing to match him shot for shot. Can’t win ’em all, but in no way do I think he was handed too much, too soon upon arriving in the UFC. He’s right where he should be.


Though they likely won’t, the UFC needs to take a slow and steady approach with Israel Adesanya because there is no way he survives against the wrestlers and ground specialist occupying the top of the middleweight division.

Wyatt Beougher: FACT I think if Adesanya goes back to finishing fights and padding out his highlight reel, there’s at least a chance that he’ll get a few more fights to build up his drawing ability and hopefully give him a chance to continue improving his sprawl. But the sentiment that Adesanya would likely get eaten alive at this point in his career by the top of the middleweight division rings true with me. Obviously, anyone with Adesanya’s boxing/kickboxing pedigree and knockout power will have a chance as each round starts standing, but I definitely don’t like his odds the higher he rises in the middleweight ranks. It would definitely make more sense to bring him along slowly, but I agree with the sentiment that there is very little chance that the UFC actually does.

Dino Zee: FACT I don’t necessarily agree with the “no way he survives” part (because really, who knows?), but overall, I think this is a correct statement. It’s obvious that the UFC wants big things for The Last Stylebender, so it would be in their best interests to give him opponents that will either stand with him happily or who don’t have the wrestling or ground chops to stall him out completely. Eventually, yes, he’s going to have to face these types, but as long as he’s not calling for a title shot, I’m not too worried about giving him, tailor-made opponents. The second they want us to take him seriously, though, the booking needs to change, or they’ll have their very own MVP on their hands.


SWITCH!

Holly Holms vs. Megan Anderson makes no sense as it puts at risk Anderson as a potential contender to Cris Cyborg.

Dino Zee: FICTION This fight only makes “no sense” if you’re looking at it through the goggles of “Megan Anderson should fight Cyborg.” In any other booking situation, it’s fair to put a highly touted newcomer against a highly ranked standard-bearer. As the women’s 145 division is currently made of 2 women (one of whom is champion), Anderson is fighting the non-champion. A win gives her instant credibility in the UFC over a known opponent, and more hype heading into a fight with Cyborg. A loss and we realize that maybe she shouldn’t fight Cyborg yet.

The UFC is pretty much damned if they do, and damned if they don’t when it comes to getting opponents for Cyborg, but I’m not freaking out about this situation too much.

Wyatt Beougher: FICTION If Anderson can’t beat Holly Holm, then she has absolutely no business in the cage with Cris Cyborg. Yes, Anderson’s four-fight win streak is a nice selling point for a potential match with the most dominant woman currently under UFC contract; however, none of those four women are even remotely on the same level as Cyborg, or even Holm, really. Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to see Anderson fight Cyborg, as giving the UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion a new challenger is certainly a better course of action than having her run through the extremely shallow women’s featherweight division again (seriously, it’s officially Cyborg, Anderson, Tonya Evinger, and Yana Kunitskaya at this point – Holm isn’t even listed at featherweight), but at this point, I’m just not sure if it’s a viable matchup (or at least as viable as anyone going against Cyborg at this point), and a fight with Holm is going to go a long way towards proving Anderson’s contendership pedigree.


Zabit Magomedsharipov needs to learn English is he wants to become a star as his fellow Dagestani, Khabib Nurmagomedov, suggests.

Dino Zee: FICTION It certainly helps with certain groups of fans, but if your skills are elite and you deliver incredible fights, you’ll become a star with or without the language barrier. Plenty of Brazilians have proven this on countless occasions. I’m not going to act like it’s totally unnecessary, but I don’t think it’s something he needs to do. If he starts creating a highlight reel of stoppages and battles of attrition, Zabit will be a huge star.

Wyatt Beougher: FACT I’ll play devil’s advocate here for a minute and point out that three of the UFC’s bigger stars in the past decade, Georges St. Pierre, Conor McGregor, and Anderson Silva, either spoke minimal or accented English and they were able to surpass the language barrier, so I’m not sure being able to speak perfect English is a necessity. So why did I go FACT? Because GSP and Silva were generational talents (though some of the shine has come off of Silva’s career thanks to a pair of PED violations), and McGregor is arguably the most charismatic fighter to ever step into the Octagon, and at this point, it certainly doesn’t seem like Zabit Magomedsharipov is going to fall into either of those categories. Sure, he’s got that sweet resemblance to Abe Lincoln that earned him the “Zabe Lincoln” nickname, but the average Affliction-wearing American MMA fan probably couldn’t pick our sixteenth president out of a lineup, so I’m not entirely sure how much help that will be. It’s certainly possible that Magomedsharipov could start thoroughly outclassing better competition as he moves up in the UFC rankings and make his star that way, but I think traditionally, guys that need an interpreter don’t tend to get the same opportunities as their English-speaking counterparts.

Then again, there’s a generational talent in Demetrious Johnson, who is well-spoken in English and still can’t get the full weight of the UFC’s promotion machine behind him, so what do I know?


Let’s be honest, like or not, the UFC is likely to give Conor McGregor a slap on the wrist for his UFC 223 mischiefs and is likely looking to help McGregor settle his resulting legal battles to get the Conor train back on its track—there is too much money to be made for the UFC out of the situation.

Dino Zee: FACT Yeah. Yawn.

Wyatt Beougher: FACT This is the easiest statement of the week to respond to and it all boils down to a simple equation: Conor McGregor = controversy = cash. Look at his track record – McGregor has a history of using vaguely racist and blatantly homophobic slurs against his opponents, but UFC has yet to so much as reprimand him for that kind of behavior. Had he not cost them three fights on a recent PPV card with his antics, nothing would have been said about his behavior at the Barclay’s Center, either, I would almost guarantee. The only way I could see the UFC *not* throwing their considerable legal resources behind McGregor and actually sanctioning him for his actions would be if he came out and declared that he was retiring from MMA to focus exclusively on his boxing career. And even then, as long as he didn’t sever the co-promotional deal in place with the UFC for his boxing matches, I don’t think they’d shut the door entirely, though they’d probably be less likely to commit extensive resources to his defense and would conversely be more likely to levy at least some kind of punitive action against him. Absent that, though, I think McGregor is going to enjoy the full support of the UFC going forward, until/unless he starts failing drug tests and/or screwing up multiple events (hi, Jon Jones!).


So who won? You’ve got until midnight eastern on Tuesday to vote, so make sure you make your voice heard!


And that’s it for today but, as always, we’ll be back next week with another contest! And please, be sure to vote!

Do you have comments and questions you’d like to get to me, or statements you’d like to see on 411 Fact or Fiction MMA, shoot me an email at:
[email protected]

Also, follow 411’s various and sundry zones on Twitter for your daily 411 fix!

411 Wrestling Zone Twitter
411 Movies/TV Zone Twitter
411 Music Zone Twitter
411 Games Zone Twitter
411 MMA Zone Twitter