Dustin Poirier

By FCF Staff

Recently Khabib Nurmagomedov relayed that he intends to “maul” Dustin Poirier when they battle. But, the UFC’s new interim lightweight champ was fazed by the champion’s comments.

Poirier won the interim belt earlier this month at UFC 236, by scoring a decision win over Max Holloway. As a result, the veteran fighter is expected to face Nurmagomedov later this year. More recently, Poirier was asked to respond to Nurmagomedov’s comments, and the fighter had this to say (quotes via MMA Weekly):

“This is fighting. I’m going to try to hurt him for 25 minutes. I’m going to try to stop his body from working,” Poirier said . “That means nothing saying ‘I’m going to maul him’. You’re supposed to. I expect the same from him when I say I’m going to hurt him, I expect the same that he’s going to try to hurt me and take me out. That’s what fighting is.”

“We’re not in there playing tennis. What can a guy say at this point? 40 fights into this crazy thing called mixed martial arts, I don’t care anymore. None of that bothers me anymore.”

Nurmagomedov – Poirier hasn’t been finalized yet, but there’s been speculation that the bout could take place in September. The champion Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought since last October, when he submitted Conor McGregor at UFC 229.