Former UFC world champions Aljamain Sterling and Chris Weidman offered their take on the highly anticipated lightweight clash between Dustin Poirier and Benoit Saint-Denis.
Scheduled to go down on March 9 in Miami, Florida, ‘The Diamond’ will return to the Octagon determined to get back into the win column following a devastating knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in his last outing. Standing in his way of a return to the win column will be rising top-15 ranked contender Benoit Saint-Denis.
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Two more fight announcements 👊🏻👊🏻#UFC299 5-round co-main, Poirier vs Saint-Denis#UFC300 Number one contender fight, Oliveira vs Tsarukyan pic.twitter.com/aSPZtGEnAT
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The ‘God of War’ has looked nothing short of impressive in his last trio of fights, scoring finishes against Ismael Bonfim, Thiago Moises, and Matt Frevola. But as noteworthy as those wins are, Saint-Denis has never fought someone as dangerous and experienced as Dustin Poirier.
“He hasn’t fought the biggest names and now all of a sudden, he’s fighting freakin’ Dustin Poirier,” Weidman while appearing on Sterling’s YouTube channel. “That’s a big jump in experience and everything and [Saint-Denis] has been a big advocate of saying he wants to fight for the BMF title. He wants to put on a show, standing and all this. Poirier’s a beast on the feet and we know Saint-Denis has used his wrestling before, but he wants to make fun fights which means you’re standing and banging with Poirier.
“I don’t think his level of standup is on the level of Poirier, respectfully. He hasn’t been there.”
Aljamain Sterling Believes Saint-Denis Needs to Use His Grappling Against Dustin Poirier
Aljamain Sterling echoed similar sentiments, suggesting that Saint-Denis should look to utilize his grappling rather than trying to stand toe-to-toe with one of the best boxers in mixed martial arts.
“His boxing is not going to be as clean as Poirier,” Sterling added. “There’s time for him to improve it, but Poirier looked great against [Justin] Gaethje until he did. The first head kick, he was able to block with one hand. The second one came and wrapped around his neck and put him out.”
He continued, “I just think Saint-Denis is going to need to tap into that grappling. It’s going to be hard for him striking-wise. He’s got great left kicks, but he’s fighting another southpaw so that left kick is not going to be as openly available like it is against the opposite stance which is open when he’s going to the body.”
UFC 299 will be Dustin Poirier’s 37th career fight. During his iconic run, he has earned highlight-reel-worthy knockouts against some of the biggest names in the sport’s history, including Bobby Green, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and Conor McGregor on two separate occasions.
“If [Saint-Denis] is gonna stand up and strike with Dustin the whole time, he’s gotta be smart,” Sterling said. “Touch him and move, but if he’s looking for the BMF title, he’s gonna have to come in there and just swing them things and that’s going to open him up against a guy like Poirier.”
Watch the full video below:
