Dustin Poirier’s coach Mike Brown believes “The Diamond” will be fueled by enemy territory.
This Saturday (Sept. 7), Poirier will meet Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title unification bout. “The Diamond” is the interim 155-pound champion, while Nurmagomedov is the main title holder. The bout will headline UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. Nurmagomedov will be a massive fan favorite inside “du Arena.”
Coach Feels Poirier Is Strengthened By Enemy Territory
Poirier’s American Top Team mentor Brown spoke to MMAFighting.com ahead of UFC 242. He explained why he isn’t concerned about the environment that Poirier is going into.
“I really don’t think that stuff matters too much. At the end of the day two guys are going to step in a cage and it’s going to be locked. They’re going to be the ones fighting so the people in the crowd really don’t matter. In a weird kind of way for some fighters, I myself would like the feeling of being the underdog; it’s a bit motivating, it’s a bit challenging. It makes you fight even harder. There’s more pressure to be the guy who is the fan favorite. Everybody is there to see them, everybody expects them to win. There’s more pressure there than being on the other side of the coin where they’re against you and they don’t think much of you. Only good things can happen because Dustin is super talented and he’s as good as it gets.”
Do you think Dustin Poirier will rise to the occasion this weekend?
