There is an ongoing conversation about who the best boxer in the UFC is, currently. Max Holloway thinks it’s him, much to the chagrin of the company’s biggest and loudest superstar.
Dustin Poirier, however, gave a different take, and it’s someone who likely isn’t one of the first choices among fans.
“Me and Thiago Alves was just talking about this. I think Petr Yan,” Poirier told Ariel Helwani during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “Just the way he moves; the way he doesn’t waste a lot of movements.
“His positioning is always crisp, his footwork, he’s never out of position. He doesn’t load up, but he throws clean power shots. Good accuracy, works the body well. Goes up, goes down. It’s just a lot of things that he does really, really well.”
Unlike Holloway, Poirier refuses to make self-proclamations. But he does know that he belongs in the same conversation.
“I’m on that list. I’m definitely on that list. I can’t say (that I’m the best). I’m not that guy. (But) I can box.”
Yan got word of Poirier’s props for him and had this to say in response.
Obviously @DustinPoirier understands boxing better than @TheNotoriousMMA https://t.co/u6oLr7hpN2
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) November 16, 2021
Poirier will step inside the Octagon for the third time this year when he faces Charles Oliveira for the undisputed 155-pound title. The two will headline UFC 269 on December 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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