Can Dustin Poirier finish his story? As he rounds the final turn of an already legendary career, Poirier takes his third crack at the undisputed UFC lightweight title on June 1 when he challenges MMA’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Islam Makhachev , in the main event of UFC 302 . The matchup headlines a pay-per-view that also features the returns of Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa , plus more.
Ahead of Poirier’s (last?) big moment, MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti, Mike Heck, and Jed Meshew sidle back up to the roundtable to preview Saturday’s return to Newark, N.J. Al-Shatti: Dustin Poirier is already an all-time great.
If his career ended tomorrow, he’d still be remembered in that way. His peak UFC run spanned multiple eras of athletes and he outlasted the majority of his contemporaries. He’s undoubtedly on the Lightweight All-Action First Team, and his résumé quite literally stands up to any 155-pound fighter who has ever laced up a pair of four-ounce gloves.
For real, compare this hit list — Max Holloway (x2), Conor McGregor (x2), Eddie Alvarez , Justin Gaethje , Bobby Green , Jim Miller , Anthony Pettis , Dan Hooker , Michael Chandler , Benoit Saint Denis , Diego Ferreira — to any lightweight ever, and Poirier has a good case for coming out ahead. We dove deep into this topic after Poirier murked Saint Denis at UFC 299 , but if you compare wins historically, Poirier is already comfortably a top-10 lightweight all-time — and for me, he’s in the top .
