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The MMA Daily: Does Dustin Poirier belong in the pound-for-pound rankings?

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The MMA Daily: Does Dustin Poirier belong in the pound-for-pound rankings?
Khabib Nurmagomedov submits Dustin Poirier on September 7, 2019 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Dustin Poirier’s presence in UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings doesn’t sit well with Henry Cejudo.

Poirier, a former interim lightweight title holder in the promotion, currently sits at #8 on the list. The only two losses in his last 11 fights have come at the hands of champions (at the time) Khabib Nurmagomedov and, most recently, Charles Oliveira – both via rear naked choke.

Still, Cejudo – an Olympic gold medalist and former two-division UFC champion – believes the promotion should be setting a higher standard for consideration to be included in the pound-for-pound list.

“I don’t know why Poirier is pound-for-pound,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “I really don’t. If I was a champion and I had a belt, with all due respect to Poirier, there is no way you can put guys that have been knocked out and submitted and all that on the pound-for-pound list.”

The AllStar MMA roundup

  1. History: This Week in Combat Sports with ‘The Bane’
  2. Return: Casey O’Neill hints at March return, teases change in divisions
  3. Breakdown: Johnny Eblen doesn’t feel Alex Pereira possesses “crafty” Israel Adesanya’s kryptonite
  4. UFC Vegas 62: Brandon Davis: The fighter who scrapped his way back into the UFC on one good knee
  5. Breakdown: Islam Makhachev is like Khabib Nurmagomedov but with better striking, says Matt Frevola

The best of the rest

  1. UFC Orlando gets Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland headliner – MMAJunkie.com
  2. Thiago Santos explains move to PFL, says $1 million prize is ‘more than I made all these years in the UFC’ – MMAFighting.com
  3. Tom Aspinall on injury rehab and timetable for his return – UFC.com
  4. Justin Gaethje on Conor McGregor: ‘Sounds to me like he’s off taking steroids right now’ – MMAFighting.com
  5. Tyron Woodley explains why Khabib isn’t a top ten fighter – BloodyElbow.com

The soapbox

T-Wrecks will take Nickal at dog odds over Chimaev:

Suga Sean feeling on point:

Is Geoff Neal scared of the welterweight boogeyman?:

An unretired Kevin Holland gets some work in with Terrance McKinney:

Li Jingliang gets stitched up after sorting another custom suit:

Matt Brown shredding some Pantera:

The morning view

JHK catches up with Piera Rodriguez ahead of UFC Vegas 62:

Tyron Woodley challenges Khabib’s legacy:

Conor McGregor looking sharp, bit rude though:

Relive Sean O’Malley vs Thomas Almeida ahead of UFC 280:

Done deals

Thursday

  • Stephen Thompson to fight Kevin Holland at UFC Orlando on December 3rd (per Kevin Holland/UFC announcement)
  • Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to fight Ihor Potieria at UFC 283 on January 21st (per Alex Behunin)
  • Yazmin Jauregui to fight Istela Nunes at UFC Orlando on December 3rd (per UFC announcement)

Wednesday

  • Darren Till to fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC282 on December 10th. (per Brett Okamoto)
  • Cheyanne Vlismas to fight Cory McKenna at UFC Vegas 66 on December 17th (per Alex Behunin)
  • Chase Sherman to fight Josh Parisian at UFC Vegas 64 on November 5th (per Nolan King)
  • Hayisaer Maheshate to fight Rafa Garcia at UFC Vegas 66 on December 17th. (per Garcia’s management)

Tuesday

  • Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo to fight Interim Champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 283 on January 21st (per Rodrigo Del Campo Gonzales)
  • Ronnie Lawrence to fight Cameron Saaiman at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Mike Heck)
  • Drakkar Klose to fight Mark O. Madsen at UFC Vegas 63 on October 29th (per Vegas Insider)
  • Josh Parisian to fight Chase Sherman at UFC Vegas 64 on November 5th (per Nolan King)

Monday

  • None to note

On this day in MMA…

On the 6th of October, 2018, UFC 229 took place in Las Vegas Nevada – and what a scene it produced.

Headlining the pay-per-view event was the highly anticipated grudge match between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor for the UFC Lightweight title.

A heated build-up involving the slapping of Artem Lobov, a dolly thrown at the window of a bus, claims of terrorism, and insults to religion and family saw tensions at a boiling point throughout fight week. After the bout itself, a largely one-sided affair (to be fair, McGregor won a round – the first time anyone had done so against Nurmagomedov) that saw the Irishman forced to tap to a rear-naked choke in the fourth round, things only got worse.

‘The Eagle’, unsatisfied with simply submitting his opponent, climbed the Octagon walls and took flight toward McGregor’s friend and teammate, Dilon Danis, hell-bent on exacting vengeance for his comments leading up to the event. A brawl ensued – both inside the cage where McGregor remained with the Dagestani’s teammates and in the crowd surrounding Nurmagomedov.

Security managed to contain the affair after a short period of chaos, and both Nurmagomedov and McGregor were escorted out of the Octagon before Bruce Buffer officially declared the winner of the contest.

Both men were fined, McGregor $50,000 and Nurmagomedov $500,000 for their actions.

Chris Ferguson is a combat sports reporter hailing from the land down under in Australia. He runs short-format interviews with mixed martial arts prospects hailing from the Oceanic region, as well as a weekly newsletter on Substack, breaking down every debuting fighter on each coming weekend’s UFC card. Catch his hot takes on Twitter @CFerg_mma.

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