Gaethje vs. Poirier

This is the official discussion thread for Gaethje vs. Poirier. Let's see what you've got.

You are comparing lightweight Poirier to featherweight that is awful logic. He was killing himself to make weight himself.What was that KZ fight like 6 years ago?  The point I was trying to make with MJ is he shines as the underdog and MJ was favored to win against Gaethje... and coming off a career changing beatdown... how did you not get that?

 Exposed by Cub?  That was a competitive fight. No one got exposed. He also stepped in on short notice. Look at the examples you are using. Castillo ? Thats even older than the KZ fight. You can't be bashing my logic and calling it awful when you are using fights from a decade ago lmao.  Another thing. Justin's wrestling is about as reliable as Hendo's he never wrestles that isn't him. He wants to be known as the most violent fighter in the UFC for some reason and that mentality will stop him from reaching the top.

I see Gaethje walking through hell like he always does, landing tight hooks and uppercuts and leg kicks. Poirier eventually will try to take Gaethje down, fail and then get caught up in the brawl since he's naturally prone to doing that. Eventually he gets broken down and stopped with a combination of leg kicks and punches like several others. I'll say 3rd round.

Cant wait to see this one. Fans of both fighters. I trust Gaethje's chin just a little more. But it will be an instant classic.

Great fight. ShakeandBake makes several great points while as usual MassaBruce is clearly trolling. I could see this fight going either way with Gaethje more likely to finish it early and Dustin late but the one mystery factor to me is how Dustin deals with the leg kicks. Can't recall him in a fight where he had to deal with those and I do fully expect Gaethje to continue to use them.

I truly don't remember the part of the Poirier/Miller fight where Jim hurt him with kicks just that Dustin won a pretty clear decision although against an obviously shopworn Miller but regardless Miller isn't known as a big leg-kicker while Justin is. And even an obvious troll makes a relevant point every now and then just like a broken clock is right twice a day. 

Pretty clear not clear. Perfect example of what I was talking about. I just rewatched the fight and I was coming back to give you credit and tell you you were right because Dustin even had his cornerman supporting him while the decision was read. And yes it was a majority decision which is very strange because 1 idiot judge had it 30-27 for Dustin and 1 28-28 which also doesn't make sense because none of the rounds were 10-8 and I'm one of the most freely giving 10-8 guys anywhere because to me 10-8 means "clear", not dominant. 

One of the biggest flaws of judges or fans is assuming their opinion is fact or must be shared by anyone or they're an idiot. For me ANY round that you score 10-9, you should be willing to accept and even expect others to score it 10-9 for the other guy. By the same token you should expect a round that you score 10-8 to scored 10-9 by at least a few and maybe even 10-7 by others. The problem is the boxing system and the fact that no 2 rounds are ever exactly alike so trying to pigeonhole them into the 10-pt must system is foolish and fights should be considered as a whole. As in you should take into consideration previous rounds when scoring later ones. 

I'm a huge Jim Miller fan and he's one of the more well-rounded old school fighters. Clearly his best aspect is BJJ while his striking is underrated and his wrestling overrated. But his best aspect in the Poirier fight was definitely his low leg kicks but he couldn't keep the fight at range long enough to use them until the 3rd and then he didn't have enough gas and/or wrestling to keep it standing. I also remember him winning the striking vs. Benson untli he foolishly jumped for a guillotine so sometimes his fight IQ is questionable. 

Dustin has clearly improved and is still in his prime. The Zombie fight is still one the best fights of all time. The win over Holloway was Max's UFC debut and Castillo as well as current BW Alcantara KOed Lamas at LW in the WEC so that's how relative those are. Dustin is a black belt now as also clearly shown in the Miller fight. He defended everything Jim threw at him on the ground and to me clearly won the ground fight over a great ground fighter so I don't think Justin's wrestling will come into play. 

As I said in my first post, I think Gaethje could catch Dustin early but the later it goes the more Dustin's chances go up as he has much better defense and head movement but if Justin can hobble him like Jim did he has the wrestling to deny a desperation shot so this should be a GREAT fight.

going to be interesting, i think gaethje is going to come out hesitant or slightly slower starting then move towards having something to prove.

What a fight. I mean, obviously, who isn't pumped for this. I feel like Poirier should come in better prepared, with a better gameplan, and with better cardio if this goes deep. On the other hand, Poirier has a tendency to be drawn into brawls, and if that happens here I don't think he's got the chin to hang with Gaethje. I'll roll the dice on a Gaethje KO.

Hope this fight hits the second or maybe even the third round, so that we can get an even bigger dose of violence. That being said, I think Justin draws Poirier into a brawl early and puts him down.

Would just like to point out to those that thought Poirier wasn't "championship material" that he now has a belt!

And Mikeyg what was that about holloway would beat his ass if they fought again today???

* Edited at 04.15.2019, 11:42 AM ET *

He is a beast if he can stuff those takedowns I think he pieces Khabib up for sure.  And I was completely worried for this fight because Max is such a beast. What a ******* chin on him couldn't believe he didnt get finished.

i predict 3 fights with these+ ! if it goes 0 - 2 then maybe 0 - 3 or 1 - 2 sets up 4 .. etc ( **** i should calm down sorry .. dont want them to kill each other!.. honestly! my bad )...

* Edited at 04.16.2019, 5:37 PM ET *