UFC 269 is set to take place on December 11, and the organization is targeting a major fight for their final bout of 2021.
Various outlets are reporting that the UFC wants Charles Oliveira to defend his belt for the first time against Dustin Poirier at this event. MMAFighting.com also reports that Julianna Pena will take on Amanda Nunes for another title bout at the same event.
Oliveira vs Poirier targeted for UFC 269
Taking on Charles Oliveira and fighting for the lightweight title represents the culmination of a seven-year journey to the top. Poirier once fought at featherweight, where in 2014 he lost via TKO to a surging Conor McGregor. At the time, this was yet another scalp in McGregor’s meteoric rise through the UFC.
Following that fight, Poirier moved up to lightweight, piecing together a four-fight win streak interrupted by Michael Johnson. Yet another setback for Dustin Poirier.
After Johnson, Poirier returned to winning ways once more, not losing for six consecutive fights, albeit including a sole no-contest against former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. Poirier won the interim lightweight championship against Max Holloway, but failed to secure undisputed status against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Three consecutive victories later – including two back-to-back knockout wins over McGregor, the man who sent Poirier into the lightweight division in the first place – and Poirier is once more challenging for the undisputed lightweight championship. Dustin Poirier may well be nearing the end of his long mixed martial arts career.
Charles Oliveira’s journey to the title wasn’t easy, either. Oliveira fought in the UFC for eleven years before finally securing the strap against Michael Chandler earlier this year. Upon his debut back in 2010, Oliveira was promoted as a prospect to watch, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu prodigy who earned a black belt before he could legally drink in the USA. Early on, Oliveira seemed more like a journeyman fighter than a title contender.
However, eight long years after his UFC debut, following a TKO loss to Paul Felder, Charles Oliveira focused on his strengths, and commenced a win streak that has yet to be broken. Charles Oliveira hasn’t lost a fight since 2018, with only one of those victories coming via decision – and that against notoriously difficult to finish Tony Ferguson.
Dustin is deservedly ranked #1 in the lightweight division. He may well be Oliveira’s greatest challenge yet. Stylistically, the pair are well-matched – Poirier’s formidable striking against Oliveira’s prodigious grappling – but neither fighter is a slouch when it comes to their opponent’s style, either.
Both Poirier and Oliveira have long careers behind them. But it may well be the title fight at UFC 269 that seals their legacies, for better or worse.
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