UFC 269: Oliveira vs Poirier

UFC 269 goes down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday 11th December 2021 and will see newly crowned champion Charles Oliveira attempt to defend his UFC lightweight strap for the first time as he takes on fan favourite Dustin Poirier in a five round main event.

Charles “Da Bronx” Oliveira defeated former Bellator champion Michael Chandler after an exciting back and forth contest to capture the then vacant UFC lightweight championship back in May 2021.

Poirier is on a three fight win streak since losing to recently retired undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, having beaten Dan Hooker and Conor McGregor twice, most recently at UFC 264 in July 2021, where the former two weight champion Conor McGregor broke his ankle at the end of the first round.

Back to back wins over the sports biggest star in McGregor has ensured that Dustin Poirier remains a firm favorite over Charles Oliveira, averaging 5/8 via sites listed on SportsBettingDime. Meanwhile Oliveira who’s the champ is coming in as a 7/5 underdog with the bookmakers.

Oliveira has seemly overcome doubts about his toughness that were levelled at him during his early UFC career, and his striking, although not elite, has been ever improving through his tenure in the UFC. It will be interesting to see how Charles approaches the bout in terms of game planning, with a probable advantage in the grappling.

Poirier rededicated himself after being finished in the first round of his first bout with McGregor at 145lbs back in 2014, and a move up to 155lbs has proved a masterstroke, although the road to the title fight has been without its ups and downs, Poirier looks to be the best he has ever been, skill wise and mentally.

With what seems like a UFC card every weekend these days, some UFC cards aren’t required watching for a lot of casual fans but this UFC lightweight championship showdown at UFC 269 is definitely one not to be missed.