UFC 269: Will Dustin Poirier End The Year Atop The World?

Dustin Poirier is positioned to have the greatest year of his career.

All he has to do is knock Charles Oliveira off.

Poirier challenges Oliveira for the lightweight title this Saturday night at UFC 269. 

The former interim UFC champion already owns a pair of career-defining wins in 2021. Back in January, he topped Conor McGregor via second round TKO.

After that win at UFC 257, Poirier did it again a few months later. 

In the main event of UFC 264, McGregor was injured and “The Diamond” was declared the winner, this time by first round TKO.

Two wins over a former two-division champion and another against one of the hottest fighters going right now. 

It is safe to assume Poirier would be on the short list for “Fighter of the Year” if he does that.

Poirier has earned some monumental wins even before the victories over McGregor. He bested Max Holloway back in 2019, finished Eddie Alvarez in 2018 and topped Anthony Pettis the year before. 

His career has been one for the ages, and this just seems like a perfect way for Poirier to cement his status. 

But Oliveira most definitely has other plans.

After resurrecting his career in 2018 with a submission of Clay Guida, it has been all uphill for Oliveira. 

He submitted Guida, Christos Giagos, Jim Miller and David Teymur in succession before scoring back-to-back finishes with his striking against Nik Lentz and Jared Gordon.

In 2020, he submitted Kevin Lee and Tony Ferguson, winning the title with a second round TKO over Michael Chandler. 

All this shapes up to be one of the most anticipated fights of the year.