Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Lightweights

8. Dustin Poirier

Poirier is, along with previous entry Tony Ferguson, one of only two fighters on this list never to have won true UFC gold, as each only held the interim championship. Nevertheless, through a long line of great wins and only losing to the very best, he merits inclusion on the Top 10. Poirier had some of the best striking, especially in terms of his boxing, that lightweight and perhaps all of MMA has ever seen, and he was a good grappler, enough to use it to defeat certain opponents, like Anthony Pettis. His grappling could only be exploited by some of the greatest ever in that discipline, like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. Meanwhile, Poirier had a slew of spectacular wins, including over absolute legends. He defeated Max Holloway decisively twice: once at featherweight and once in Holloway's prime when he was reigning featherweight champion moving up to 155. He knocked out Diego Ferreira and Bobby Green in Round 1, defeated prime Joe Duffy, ground out Jim Miller, finished Anthony Pettis, won a classic battle against Justin Gaethje by stoppage, knocked out Eddie Alvarez, won another all-time great fight against Dan Hooker by well-deserved, if close decision, and finally, scored two first-round knockouts of bitter rival Conor McGregor, who had beaten him at featherweight early in both men’s careers. Poirier has faltered when going for the undisputed title, being submitted by Nurmagomedov and Oliveira, and with him turning 34 in January and having a number of interests outside of fighting, he may not ever reach the summit of the division. Still, he has already authored a great career and can still add to it, as he set to face another all-time great in Michael Chandler at UFC 281 next month.

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