Former three-time UFC Lightweight Title challenger Dustin Poirier has given his UFC Rio pre-fight prediction for the Charles Oliveira vs Mateusz Gamrot main event.
The retired MMA legend feels this could be a tough night for ‘Do Bronx’, with Gamrot surprising a lot of people.
Dustin Poirier Gives Charles Oliveira vs Mateusz Gamrot Prediction For UFC Rio
As a three-time UFC Lightweight Title challenger and true MMA legend, Dustin Poirier is man highly thought of in MMA circles.
This remains the case even since Poirier retired following his UFC 318 clash with Max Holloway for the BMF Title.
Since his retirement, Poirier has remained in MMA in some capacity, whether that be as an analyst, pundit or training young fighters and the next generation of MMA talents.
Poirier is obviously no stranger to a super-fight, having faced the likes of Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Holloway to name but a few of his former opponents.
Although he has retired, Poirier may still be holding out to headline UFC White House in a trilogy with McGregor. Although this seems highly unlikely, it isn’t totally out of the question.
In the meantime, ‘The Diamond’ has chipped in with a pre-fight prediction for the upcoming UFC Rio show headlined by Charles Oliveira vs Mateusz Gamrot.
Poirier has given his thoughts on the contest, revealing that anyone who thinks it will be an easy night’s work for the former UFC Lightweight Champion and hometown hero will be rudely awakened.
Although Poirier has remained somewhat on the fence, he is just siding with Gamrot to silence the Rio crowd and claim the biggest win of his career.
Dustin Poirier Picks Mateusz Gamrot With UFC Rio Prediction
Our UFC Rio Oliveira vs Gamrot betting tips are siding with a the hometown hero to get his hand raised, but Dustin Poirier feels there could be a different outcome.
The retired MMA legend is leaning more towards Mateusz Gamrot. The Polish fighter is actually the marginal with UFC betting sites, which may come as a bit of a surprise to most.
Not to Poirier though, who can see a clear route to victory for the #8 ranked lightweight contender. Poirier is finding it tough to call the fight, but does feel Gamrot could well silence the Rio crowd and pull off a stunning victory against ‘Do Bronx’:
“That was a pretty devastating knockout,” Poirier told MMAJunkie in a recent interview ahead of Oliveira vs Gamrot.
“Any time someone gets put out like that, I definitely don’t recommend them turning around as quickly as possible. Take some time off. We saw it with Alexander Volkanovski. We’ve seen it time and time again. You need to recovery, regroup, let things heal.
“But even turning around that quick, Gamrot has knocked out people in the UFC before. With four-ounce gloves, even though we don’t think of Gamrot as a power, one-hit puncher, he is.
“It’s a dangerous fight for Charles, especially if he can’t get the takedown on Gamrot. We’ll see. Gamrot’s boxing game has improved so much over the past two years. I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people,” Poirier concluded.
Whether or not Dustin Poirier’s prediction of a Mateusz Gamrot victory over Charles Oliveira comes to fruition or not remains to be seen.
There could be several UFC bonuses dished out at UFC Rio, particularly given Oliveira hold the record for the most in history. Could he add another and prove ‘The Diamond’ wrong?
