NEW ORLEANS – Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier gave their breakdown on how Islam Makhachev does at 170 pounds.
Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) defends his BMF title against Dustin Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in a trilogy bout, which headlines Saturday’s UFC 318 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) event at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Now permanently at 155 pounds, Holloway thinks former champion Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) will do well at a weight class above, but thinks UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) won’t be an easy fight for him.
“I think he’ll be fine. I think he’ll be good, but people be sleeping on Jack,” Holloway said during Wednesday’s media day. “I think Jack is one of the best fighters in the world right now, and I think people are going to find that out when that match happens. I’m hearing rumors maybe October. I think it’s going to be a fun fight, smart fight, but a lot of people counting out Jack for I don’t know what reason.
“They keep counting him out. It kind of reminds me of when I was coming up, and (people) counting me out in a bunch of different fights. I mean, (Makhachev) is the No. 2 pound-for-pound in the world right now, but he’s the No. 2 pound-for-pound for a reason, so you’ve got to respect that. But don’t sleep on Jack. I think it’s going to be a tough and fun fight.”
Poirier fought Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 302. He was submitted in Round 5, and expects Makhachev to have success at welterweight.
“He’s a big guy,” Poirier said. “I think he’s going to fill into that weight. He’s a really big 155’er. His lifestyle outside of training camp is going to be a little bit more comfortable, and he’ll fill into that weight class no problem. He could be champion there for sure.
“I think the beginning of the fight is going to tell the story, like how well JDM does getting up, how well JDM does at keeping Islam off of his legs, off of the cage. It’s tough to call that because JDM is a big guy, athletic. I’m excited about that – a lot of fun fights in the future.”
