A bombshell dropped on the MMA world late Friday evening, when ESPN’s Brett Okamoto disclosed that UFC president Dana White affirmed to him that there’ll be a interim lightweight title at stake at UFC 236. In 1 corner will probably be top lightweight competitor Dustin Poirier, while at another corner UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will stand, trying to join the select few UFC fighters who have won straps in two weight classes. Below, I will give my initial thoughts on the struggle, and also what it implies for the lightweight division.
Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway, UFC 236
Poirier and Holloway will fulfill in the primary event of UFC 236 for the interim lightweight name. The card takes place April 13 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The co-main occasion of the card is an interim middleweight title bout between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum, meaning two fresh UFC champions will be crowned that night.
Before I enter the actual matchup involving Poirier and Holloway, I must talk about what this means for the remaining lightweight division. Evidently, the choice to create an interim title means the promotion expects UFC lightweight winner Khabib Nurmagomedov to be outside in the sidelines for some time. Really, he’s scheduled to return in the earliest in November because of his suspension coming out of the post-fight brawl in UFC 226. It is possible the UFC does not even believe he’ll return before the close of the year is up, along with the division obviously needs to keep moving around.
The fighter who gets hurt the most with this information is clearly Tony Ferguson, who’s on an 11-fight win streak and that was the former interim title holder this past year before he slipped to a TV cable and blew his knee out. Ferguson returned late last year at UFC 226 having a TKO win over Anthony Pettis and many figured he’d be the next competitor for Nurmagomedov. However, according to White, Ferguson turned down an interim title fight with Holloway, and Poirier jumped in and took his place instead. This implies for Ferguson moving forward remains to be seen, but considering what happened to Colby Covington along with the welterweight division, it appears the UFC has already moved on.
As far as the Poirier vs. Holloway fight goes, it’s an great matchup, and really a rematch since the two previously fought at UFC 143 back in 2012, together with Poirier beating Holloway by submission. Of course, that was Holloway’s UFC debut and he is a completely different fighter now. So is Poirier. They are both would be the very best of their various games and this rematch should be amazing. Poirier (24-5, 1 NC) is unbeaten over his last five fights and is coming from a TKO win over Eddie Alvarez. Holloway (20-3) is really on a 13-fight win series and hauled out Brian Ortega in his final struggle. Both guys are truly at the top of the game right now and this should be an wonderful battle.
The offshore sportsbooks dropped the launching betting odds for the fight, with Holloway opening as a -230 betting favorite, together with all the comeback on Poirier in +170. The early betting action has come in on Holloway, though awarded Poirier’s previous win over him I expect some action to come from his way at some point or another. In any event, the sportsbooks can expect a large handle for this particular battle, which claims to be among the most-anticipated bouts of the year.
Along with Poirier vs. Holloway, UFC 236 also features an interim middleweight title bout between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum. You may have a look at my thoughts about the opening line for that bout here.
Opening Betting Odds
UFC 236:
April 13, 2019
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Main Event — Interim Lightweight Title
Max Holloway -230
Dustin Poirier +170
CLICK BELOW TO BET ON UFC 236

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