UFC 269: Poirier looks to cement legacy with title win over ‘dangerous’ Oliveira – ‘once a champion, always a champion’
- Dustin Poirier challenges fellow veteran Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title in Las Vegas
- ‘The Diamond’ believes capturing the undisputed lightweight title will cement his legacy in MMA
Dustin Poirier believes immortality in MMA is just one win away.
Fresh off a pair of stoppage wins over Conor McGregor, the 32-year-old American will take on Brazil’s Charles Oliveira in the main event of the stacked UFC 269 card this Saturday in Las Vegas. If he wins, he’ll be crowned the undisputed UFC lightweight champion and, by his estimation, cement his place in the MMA history books.
To say he is excited for that opportunity would be an understatement.
“This feels very special to me because I have the opportunity to be the world champion,” Poirier (28-6) told the media assembled in Las Vegas ahead of UFC 269. “It gives me chills just saying it. I want it so bad.”
“This is forever,” he added later. “You don’t take that away: once a champion, always a champion.”
Poirier, who briefly held the UFC’s interim lightweight belt but was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in his lone crack at the division’s undisputed title, has been fighting for the promotion for just shy of 11 years.
The 32-year-old Oliveira (31-8) is one of just a few fighters with more UFC experience than Poirier, having made his Octagon debut about a year before the American.
