Dustin Poirier is the best lightweight in the world, not Charles Oliveira, says coach

Dustin Poirier is the best lightweight in the world, not UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, says his coach Mike Brown.

Poirier takes on Oliveira at UFC 269 in December with the 155lbs belt on the line. Oliveira won the vacant title when he knocked out Michael Chandler back at UFC 262 in May. But despite being the UFC lightweight champion and holding the belt, there are still a number of people in the MMA community who think that he isn’t the best lightweight in the sport. After all, Poirier turned down the title shot to fight Conor McGregor in a trilogy match. So it’s the opinion of some, including Brown, that Poirier is actually the true No. 1 lightweight.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s Mike Heck in a recent interview, Brown explained why he believes Poirier is the best lightweight in the world. Although Brown believes that Oliveira is amazing on the ground when it comes to his submissions, he is still not sold on him being the best lightweight in the sport. So despite holding UFC gold right now, it’s actually Brown’s opinion that Poirier is unofficially defending his spot as the No. 1 lightweight.

“I love the matchup. It’s exciting. His style, he’s an elite submission grappler, one of the best in the sport and it’s a fun puzzle. But I think Dustin is the best lightweight in the world, without a doubt,” Brown said of Poirier. “One of my favorite stats that they threw out recently was the third quickest to 20 wins behind Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre. That’s pretty damn good company, and that shows what caliber of a fighter he truly is. He’s one of the greatest to ever do the sport.”

Do you agree with Mike Brown that Dustin Poirier is the best lightweight in the world or do you think it is Charles Oliveira?