Dustin Poirier fought a who’s who list of opponents during his career, but he has vivid memories of the size and strength that he faced when going up against Islam Makhachev back in 2024.
At the time, Makhachev was the reigning UFC lightweight champion, but had remarked numerous times that he would almost certainly move to welterweight in the future due to difficulties cutting down to 155 pounds. Poirier remembers staring at Makhachev from across the octagon before they battled it out at UFC 302, and immediately recognizing he was going up against one of the biggest lightweights he’d ever seen.
“I looked across under those spotlights, and he had veins in his shoulders and shit,” Poirier said on Joe Rogan’s podcast. “I’m like f*ck, this guy’s huge.”
Poirier made it to the fifth round before he was ultimately submitted by a brabo choke while also earning Fight of the Night honors. But he only found out recently how much size he was giving up to Makhachev that night.
“Islam is huge. He’s huge,” Poirier said. “Hunter [Campbell] from the UFC, I was in his office not too long ago, and they keep a record of all the weights [from] fight night. They don’t release it all, but they keep it. We were talking about the Islam fight when I fought Islam, and he was telling me about his weight, and I was like that’s insane. 192 [pounds] or something, I think. I think so. 190, 191, something around there. I was 176 [pounds].”
Record books or not, Makhachev heard those comments and responded to Poirier via Telegram.
“I’ve never weighed more than 80kg (176 pounds), ever,” Makhachev wrote.
Of course, Makhachev did eventually relinquish his lightweight title to pack on the pounds and move to welterweight, dominating Jack Della Maddalena this past November to claim that championship.
Makhachev mauled Della Maddalena on the ground for almost the entire five-round fight, and that’s an experience Poirier never forgot after he faced the Dagestan native.
On that night, Makhachev locked up a nasty choke that put Poirier away quickly, and he admits he was caught off guard by the way the submission was applied with virtually no escape possible.
“It’s different. He strangled me,” Poirier said. “The way he did it, I think [Renato] Moicano filled in last minute to fight Islam and got caught with the same choke. It’s kind of like a D’arce choke, but he locks it on his forearm. He doesn’t go to the bicep. The squeeze is different. He’s pulling to his chest. It’s not like an angle squeeze. It’s different. So the defense is different.
“When I got my legs out and tried to walk around, he hooked my leg, but the squeeze is completely different. You know, you belly down, kind of get some space to breathe? You can’t the way he does it.”
Poirier revealed that as soon as Makhachev completely locked up the choke, he started going to sleep, and a moment later, the fight was over.
In other words, Makhachev is using size, strength, and technique while building one of the most impressive resumes in the history of the sport.
“When he gets the grip locked in, it’s complete, immediate blood shut down,” Poirier said. “You know how you usually feel it slowly fading away? It was like quick, right away. The darkness started coming in as soon as he got the grip.”
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