Outside Source
Justin Gaethje will face Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title in the main event at UFC 324 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Poirier is backing his former foe, Gaethje, to beat Pimblett, who is the favorite. Poirier believes Gaethje’s experience of being in five-rounders and absolute wars will give him an advantage over Pimblett. Poirier believes Pimblett won’t be able to dodge Gaethje’s power for five rounds and will get finished inside the distance. While Poirier thinks Pimblett is a good fighter, he isn’t ready to board the Liverpudlian’s hype train unless he beats Gaethje.
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Five-Round Experience
“I’m leaning towards Justin… I just think he’s been in those 25-minute fights,” Poirier told Ariel Helwani. “He’s been in dogfights before. I think Paddy’s going to have a tough time stopping him on the feet, and I don’t think Paddy’s going to be able to get him down. So he’s going to have to fight with him unless Paddy can stay super disciplined for 25 minutes, stay at distance, pick his shots. Justin is just a bigger puncher, and he’ll put himself in harm’s way to land one of those shots. It’s tough to stay away from that for 25 minutes… He’s definitely a legit fighter, he’s a good fighter, but I haven’t seen him beat… If he beats Justin, I’m a believer… I think Justin stops him.”
Gaethje (26-5) has consistently faced elite opposition in the UFC, even making two failed lightweight title bids. “The Highlight” is 3-1 in his last four, which includes a highlight-reel knockout win over Poirier. Meanwhile, Pimblett (23-3) is undefeated in seven UFC outings with his most high-caliber wins coming against Michael Chandler and Bobby Green.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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