Dustin Poirier still confident he can beat Khabib Nurmagomedov

Earlier this month, in the main event of UFC 242, Dustin Poirier attempted to swipe the lightweight title from the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately for Poirier and his team, this mission didn’t go as planned. Instead, he was forced to tap out to a third-round rear-naked choke.

Despite this setback against the champ, Poirier is still confident he has the ability to beat the champion. He attributes his loss to Nurmagomedov to his own performance more than anything else.

“He is a special individual, but I can beat him,” Poirier said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday (via MMA Mania). “I just let myself down that night and it sucks.”

Dustin Poirier continued, explaining that he’s determined to work his way back to another shot at lightweight gold.

“I promise you I am going to rise again and I am going to get my hand raised, beat who I have to beat and I will be back,” Poirier said. “I’ll be knocking on that door again, I just hate to have to dust myself off over and over again, but this is my story.”

“This is my path. I don’t try to look for an explanation as to why this happened. I know I am one of the best in the world, and when it all does finally come together, It is going to be beautiful and it’s my story. It’s a love and hate relationship. Sometimes I love this so much and sometimes I hate it. It’s something that keeps breaking your heart but you keep going back to it. I can’t stop and I will not stop. I know have greatness in me, and I just have to show the world, keep rising.”

Do you think Dustin Poirier could defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov in a rematch?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/17/2019.