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In his four fights in the UFC, Poirier dominated Josh Grispi and outworked Jason Young to decision wins, then submitted Pablo Garza and a late replacement for Erik Koch in Max Holloway in February. Those performances all moved Poirier into discussion for title contention despite his young age, but he's still not rushing that talk.
Instead, he's eying what should be an immensely entertaining fight with Jung, whose last two fights have seen him pull off the first ever twister submission in UFC history, then earn the second fastest knockout in UFC history over Mark Hominick in December. Suffice it to say, Poirier doesn't think Tuesday's main event will be going all five scheduled rounds.
"I don't think [this fight goes five rounds]," Poirier said in an interview with USA Today. "If it does, it'll be Fight of the Century. Somebody's probably going to get knocked out or submitted early. Whoever capitalizes on the first mistake, whoever lands that first big shot and sees the other person hurt."
"I think we both have the ability to do that. I think he's dangerous from every position and so am I. Who's going to go out there and make things happen? I'm ready to do that."
Poirier thinks he has an edge in the technique department when it comes to their respective striking games, though he realizes Jung is capable of delivering a technical performance. However, he's seen different styles from Jung in his last several fights, so he's not sure which opponent he's going to get come Tuesday night in Fairfax, Va.
"The seven-second knockout was a seven-second knockout. It was a hook-cross. So that's hard to say with [what changes he may have made]," Poirier said. "But the second [Leonard] Garcia fight, I saw a little more cautious fighter. Picked his shots a little bit more. Fought like a professional fighter. But then again, I saw he gets frustrated when Leonard wasn't engaging or pushing back. It seems like he doesn't like to fight from a distance. He likes to be in doing it the whole time. So I saw him get frustrated and brawl a little bit."
"But he has a professional kickboxing record... So he definitely has the technique. It's just he's a fighter and he likes to get in there and throw punches, so I think if he gets hit on the chin, it's going to go back to a brawl. We'll see what Zombie shows up that night. Is it going to be the technical one or is it going to be the brawler?"
Regardless of which version of his opponent shows up, Poirier remains confident in his abilities. He wasn't expecting Jung to get past Hominick in December due to the technical differences between the two; and while he was surprised by that outcome, he's not planning on letting the same thing happen to him.
"I was at my buddy's house watching the fight and I was saying, 'Hominick's about to pick this guy apart. Come watch this. It's going to be a kickboxing clinic.' I was excited," Poirier explained. "I couldn't believe my eyes. I definitely picked Hominick to just beat him up technical on the feet."
"That was December when he knocked out Hominick. His fight before that was when he did the twister. There's such big gaps. How much can you improve in that time period? Everybody's different."
"But I'm expecting to pick him apart."
If he manages to accomplish that on Tuesday night, it will make for another impressive win on his resume. If he continues to pull off performances along those lines, he'll get himself into a title fight sooner rather than later.
Penick's Analysis: This is almost assuredly going to be a blast to watch. Jung's not the most technical fighter, but he brings an exciting style into the cage and will not go down without leaving everything in the cage. Poirier is very likely the superior fighter in every aspect of the game, but even then it's important for him to show that in this fight. If he can pick Jung apart as he plans to do, it will make for another enjoyable performance out of him. If Jung makes it more difficult for him, it will make for an immensely exciting back and forth fight. Either way, this is a fight worth watching, so if you don't have Fuel, try to find a bar with DirecTV to have them turn the fights on!
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13283.shtml
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