Eddie Alvarez is a slight favorite against Dustin Poirier at UFC 211 on Saturday, May 13 in Dallas, Texas. This fight is one of four on the FX portion of the preliminary card leading up to the main pay-per-view card that features Stipe Miocic defending his heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos. The bout between Alvarez and Poirier features two fighters with similar records, as Alvarez is 28-5, while Poirier is 21-5. Let’s look at the fight and UFC predictions.
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Eddie Alvarez (28-5)
The last time we saw Alvarez was in November of last year when he was beaten by Conor McGregor for the lightweight title. Even with that defeat, Alvarez has still won six of his last eight fights. He wins most of his fights by knockout, with 61% of his wins coming by knockout. Alvarez has never lost two straight fights in his career.
The loss by Alvarez to McGregor was a crushing one for Alvarez and he was smart to take some time off to get over that defeat. That loss was about six months ago and Alvarez seems ready to get back into action and get in line for another title shot.
Dustin Poirier (21-5)
Poirier has won eight of his last ten fights including a win over Jim Miller in February. The two losses were to McGregor in 2014 and to Michael Johnson last year. Poirier wins about half of his fights by knockout. He has a big chance to move up the rankings in the lightweight division if he can win this fight. “A win over Eddie Alvarez would put me right there fighting for the title,” said Poirier to MMA Junkie Radio. “That would put me at 6-1 in the lightweight division with a win over the former champ. It’s not like I’m a guy who just stumbled into the top 10. I’ve been in the top 10 in two weight classes, that just doesn’t happen by accident. I’ve been in title eliminator fights before at featherweight, with the ‘Korean Zombie’ [Chan Sung Jung]. I’m not a new guy to the block, I’ve been around a long time and I’ve been putting in work.”
Poirier said to Flo Combat that if he does everything well on May 13 he will beat Alvarez. “[I’m] visualizing the fight and preparing myself to perform and be the best I’ve ever been in the moment, but at the same time, experience is playing a big part in this camp for me. I’m doing everything I can do every day to prepare my body and mind. I’m preparing my skill set and pushing everything to the limit. I know if I cover all of those bases the only thing I have to do is perform. I’m focused on the work right now. I’m confident of my skills, and I know if I show up, be in the moment and take advantage of every opportunity..I’m walking out of that fight with my hand raised.”
UFC Predictions
I am really surprised the line on this is so low, as Alvarez is ranked 3rd in the lightweight division while Poirier is ranked 9th. Alvarez is simply the better fighter than Poirier right now and I expect him to get the win in this bout.
UFC 211 takes place on Saturday, May 13 in Dallas, Texas and features a heavyweight title bout between current champion Stipe Miocic and former champion Junior dos Santos.
Main Card (pay-per-view)
Stipe Miocic -115 vs. Junior dos Santos (rounds 1.5 over -175)
Joanna Jedrzejczyk -170 vs. Jessica Andrade (rounds 3.5 over -175)
Demian Maia -123 vs. Jorge Masvidal (rounds 1.5 over -180)
Frankie Edgar -145 vs. Yair Rodriguez (rounds 2.5 over -225)
Henry Cejudo -325 vs. Sergio Pettis
Preliminary Card (FX)
Eddie Alvarez -115 vs. Dustin Poirier
Chas Skelly vs. Jason Knight
Krzysztof Jotko vs. David Branch
Marco Polo Reyes vs. James Vick
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Jessica Aguilar vs. Cortney Casey
Gabriel Benitez vs. Enrique Barzola
Chase Sherman vs. Dmitry Poberezhets
Michel Quinones vs. Jared Gordon
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