UFC welterweight Matt Brown believes Justin Gaethje‘s desire to avenge a previous defeat to Dustin Poirier is a stronger motivational factor and predicts Gaethje to prevail in the rematch at UFC 291.
UFC welterweight Matt Brown opines that Justin Gaethje’s desire to even the score with Dustin Poirier could be a more vital motivator than Poirier’s objective to secure a second victory against him. Gaethje and Poirier are set to clash again at UFC 291, and Brown conjectures that Gaethje’s commitment and game plan might be sufficient for him to triumph in the rematch. “Gaethje has to know that he’s on his last run, and Poirier probably doesn’t feel a whole lot different,” Brown said on a recent episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. ”He’s got to know that he doesn’t have a lot left, but I think Gaethje is gonna be fighting for a little bit more, and I think that may be the difference-maker.”
The inaugural encounter between Poirier and Gaethje was hailed as one of the best fights of 2018, winning seven out of eight first-place votes. After three ruthless rounds, Poirier managed to defeat Gaethje with a barrage of punches, moving him closer to the lightweight title. However, Brown also acknowledges Poirier’s capacity to exploit momentum and turn the tide in decisive moments of a fight.
“Dustin Poirier, he’s one of the hardest punchers but … I don’t even like saying the hardest puncher, because he’s not a one-punch knockout guy, but he’s got like the stiffest fight-changing punch,” Brown added. “Almost like Manny Pacquiao, like he didn’t knock out a lot of guys. … He didn’t knock out a lot of guys with one punch. But when he hit guys, the fight changed right there. When he landed a clean shot, the opponent’s mentality just changed, and the guy did not want that again. That’s what I see with Dustin Poirier, and he’s gonna have to land one of those punches on Gaethje. He did it the first time they fought. But I think he’s gonna have to land again. I think Gaethje should be a little bit more aware. I’ve seen more improvement out of Gaethje. … But I think I’ve seen more improvement out of him since his last fight, and with that, I’m going to have to lean toward Gaethje in this.”
Both athletes have competed eight times since their initial encounter, procuring an impressive 6-2 record in the octagon. Each has also held the interim lightweight title and faced defeat against now-retired lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier recently claimed a victory over Michael Chandler, while Gaethje overcame Rafael Fiziev four months ago. Brown reflected, “In the first fight, I think Gaethje was doing really well, and I think he looked like he wasn’t drained from the weight cut, or out of shape – didn’t look injured or anything like that. So if Gaethje can utilize just simple things like his jab and his footwork more, not make it as much of a war, and actually think that Gaethje can make it potentially lean into his favor if he uses skill vs. skill versus war vs. war fighter. I think that Gaethje has that in him to do that.” Brown suggested that Gaethje’s coach, Trevor Wittman, will be crucial in this rematch. “It may come down to who does have more fire left in him at this point”, Brown concluded, “If I got a guess on that, and it’s totally a guess, I’m gonna guess Gaethje, and I’m probably gonna pick Gaethje to win this fight.”