UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier – Preview and betting tips

Here we go! UFC 269 takes place this weekend and in the title fight, Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier will battle for the lightweight championship belt. The favourite for the fight will rather uncharacteristically be the challenger, not the defending champion. How will the fight turn out?

The champion Charles Oliveira has an extremely difficult task ahead of him. The feared Dustin Poirier will want to take his belt. The Brazilian is confident, but the experts and bettors are overwhelmingly the opposite.

There are several reasons. Oliveira excels in grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and has improved his standup recently, but it shouldn’t be enough for Poirier. Why?

The American has an excellent stance, holds a black belt in jiu-jitsu, is tactically extremely advanced and is very durable, his stamina is almost without limits.

Moreover, Poirier has had tougher fights, he nearly managed to guillotine Khabib Nurmagomedov and was perhaps the first to put the undefeated Eagle in a tight spot. In the last five years, Khabib is the only one he’s lost to.

The fight will be decided the moment Oliveira tries to take Poirier down for the first time. If he fails to do so, his chances of winning virtually disappear. Even on the ground, he can’t be expected to surprise his opponent in any major way.

Poirier will be tougher in the fight, he’s practically a perfect all-around fighter without any significant weakness. Oliveira is the one who has already been stopped 7 times in his career, and he has never been in the fourth and fifth rounds, where Poirier, on the other hand, has outclassed his opponents several times.

No wonder the American is the favorite. He will be the champion on Saturday night and can be expected not to give his belt to just anyone.