Dustin Poirier has three rather unusual and off-beat ‘UFC Curses’ working in his favor ahead of the title fight this weekend against Islam Makhachev.
‘The stars are aligning’ is a phrase that has been bounded around the MMA community for some time in response to Dustin Poirier’s upcoming title shot; and despite the stars having no tangible impact on the fight itself, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some jesting patterns to be aware of.
Whilst ‘The Diamond’ of the lightweight division also falls into the infamous ‘Over 35 Curse’, there are plenty of strange and superficial trends that, whilst won’t impact the fight directly, are interesting titbits for fans supporting Dustin Poirier will be banking on in Newark.
Three off-beat ‘UFC Curses’ working in Dustin Poirier’s favor
Straight off the bat, none of these ‘UFC Curses’ will have a direct role in how the fight will actually play out this weekend between Islam Makhachev and Poirier.
That being said, they each hold their own as a potential ‘headline in the making’, as well as a curious piece of information to share with fellow fight fans, should ‘The Diamond’ shock the world at UFC 302.
The first has been dubbed the ‘Paulo Costa Curse’ – whenever the Brazilian brawler features on a PPV card (not headlined by Costa himself), no champion has ever successfully defended their title:
- UFC 298: Alexander Volkanovski loses to Ilia Topuria (Costa lost to Robert Whittaker)
- UFC 278: Kamaru Usman loses to Leon Edwards (Costa defeated Luke Rockhold)
- UFC 241: Daniel Cormier loses to Stipe Miocic (Costa defeated Yoel Romero)
- UFC 226: Stipe Miocic loses to Daniel Cormier (Costa defeated Uriah Hall)
- UFC 217: Michael Bisping, Cody Garbrandt, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk each lose their belts (Costa defeated Johny Hendricks)
- UFC 212: Jose Aldo loses to Max Holloway (Costa defeated Oluwale Bamgbose)
Costa is set to face Sean Strickland in the co-main event of UFC 302, just before champion Makhachev faces Dustin Poirier in the main event.
The second off-beat pattern is the ‘DP in June Curse’, where Dustin Poirier is 6-0 as a professional when fighting in the month of June.
- Def. Nate Jolly (submission) – June 26, 2009
- Def. Derek Gauthier (KO) – June 18, 2010
- Def. Jason Young (decision) – June 11, 2011
- Def. Yancy Medeiros (TKO) – June 6, 2015
- Def. Bobby Green (KO) – June 4, 2016
- Def. Dan Hooker (decision) – June 27, 2020
UFC 302 is scheduled for Saturday, June 1.
The final curious ‘UFC Curse’ is one that pertains to the location of UFC 302: Set to go down from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Here, in the Tri-State area, Poirier is 2-0: Having defeated Michael Chandler and Jim Miller in New York, and with the Prudential Center in New Jersey being found on… 25 Lafayette Steet – with Lafayette, Louisiana being the hometown of ‘The Diamond’.
‘The Diamond’ will need to also dispel the dreaded ‘Over 35 Curse’
If you find any of these ‘curses’ interesting patterns to take into consideration ahead of UFC 302, it’s also reasonable to explain that Poirier also falls into the infamous ‘Over 35 Curse’ for championship fighters.
Male fighters in the welterweight division and below, aged 35 or older, are just 2-24 in championship bouts.
These losses include three at flyweight, four at bantamweight, five at featherweight, four at lightweight, and finally eight at welterweight.
Should Poirier earn the upset victory over Makhachev at UFC 302, he’ll become only the second fighter to have won a UFC title at/below 170lbs and over the age of 35, alongside Tyron Woodley.
UFC 302 goes down this weekend live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
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