Is Dustin Poirier the best striker in the lw history?

[JustOnce]

Natural talents only gets you to the belt but you need more to dominate your division. Not sure if you noticed that lately Conor has shifted his fight game to those he used to shit on, now he's more flat footed, HEAVILY focused on powerful striking techniques, desperate to put opponents away quickly, and inefficient with his defense and stamina etc.

Haha you'd be surprised to hear that Im still a Conor fan at this point, only because he's still entertaining to watch, and hasn't given us a single boring fight yet.

Conor's shit right now for sure. Oh well he made his money, you can't have it all I guess.

Well sometimes, you are a fan no matter what. It's not a bad thing *brofist*

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

Absolutely not. Just on striking alone, I’d rank Diaz, Melendez, and Pettis above him.

Diaz ?? Nate has some hands but he has dead legs. He thinks he's sugar ray robinson but he got hit like a sack of potatoes during his career. What made him win is his durability.

If we're talking LW history in MMA we could put Gomi too. If we're talking UFC we have to put Conor in the discussion.

 

[JustOnce]

Diaz ?? Nate has some hands but he has dead legs. He thinks he's sugar ray robinson but he got hit like a sack of potatoes during his career. What made him win is his durability.

If we're talking LW history in MMA we could put Gomi too. If we're talking UFC we have to put Conor in the discussion.

I'm the biggest Gomi fan on Sherdog. I've been claiming Gomi > BJ last ten plus years.

But Gomi fell too hard.

 

[Moro]

You think Conor is a more talented striker prime for prime? Dustin KTFO prime Conor, end of thread.

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

You think Conor is a more talented striker prime for prime? Dustin KTFO prime Conor, end of thread.

This is MMA. I think prime motivated Conor wins against everyone in a striking match

 

[BFoe]

Diaz ?? Nate has some hands but he has dead legs. He thinks he's sugar ray robinson but he got hit like a sack of potatoes during his career. What made him win is his durability.

If we're talking LW history in MMA we could put Gomi too. If we're talking UFC we have to put Conor in the discussion.

I get what you’re saying, but both Diaz brothers tooled Gomi in the standup. I get that Gomi was past prime in the Nate fight, but honestly I think Nate had better hands than Gomi. People sometimes forget how good Nate is—or could be, anyhow. His Gomi, Cerrone, Miller, and Johnson fights were fantastic performances.
I think that regarding Poirier, I should’ve noted that the question said striker, and so maybe Dustin has the overall striking edge as Nate’s not much of a kicker, and doesn’t utilize elbows a ton. Nate in his prime and at his best does just fine with Poirier standing though, imho.

 

[Shaddows]

I respect your opinion, but do not share it by a long margin.
1) Let us start with my pick (so you have it as well). In my opinion, prime BJ was the best striker of this division.
2) I disagree Conor (prime or not) was better than Dustin. He was the most accurate/powerful. but not the best.
3) Charles is better (technique & IQ) than Dustin and proved that during their fight.
look here for some amazing insights (credit @fortheo)

now, I like Charles, and I do think he is amazing. Maybe he will pass BJ in my mind, btu not there yet.
Now, I must admit one thing: this could be me just overthinking the "good ol'days", and because of it, perhaps it looks better than it was, but I recall BJ Penn being ultra-fast and accurate, above anyone else...

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

I get what you’re saying, but both Diaz brothers tooled Gomi in the standup. I get that Gomi was past prime in the Nate fight, but honestly I think Nate had better hands than Gomi. People sometimes forget how good Nate is—or could be, anyhow. His Gomi, Cerrone, Miller, and Johnson fights were fantastic performances.
I think that regarding Poirier, I should’ve noted that the question said striker, and so maybe Dustin has the overall striking edge as Nate’s not much of a kicker, and doesn’t utilize elbows a ton. Nate in his prime and at his best does just fine with Poirier standing though, imho.

You're right. Nate had great performances against great strikers like Johnson and Cerrone. I love going back to these fights. And i love Nate too. But he gets hit way too much in general to be called an elite striker. Plus, once you figure out how he works, you can expose his flaws. Hell, Dos Anjos manhandled him. Conor knocked him down three times..

 

[kalabula]

I think this thread might age poorly haha. Apparently Dustin is angling for a fight with Nate, probably thinking he got an easy money fight.

I think Nate can very well win that fight. Nate is a better boxer of the two by a fair margin, got better Jit also by considerable margin and got better cardio, also probably by a significant margin.

Poirier pretty much does the same thing in his entire fight career and I think it may depend on the ref. I can see Poirier hurting Nate, but I don't think he can put his lights out. It will hurt Poirier if he hurts Nate and tries to finish but can't.

Poirier is obviously going to use that low kicks and combination punching, but I can see Nate coming on strong late.

Unless Poirier gets a ref who likes to step in early, Nate can very well win this and this thread won't age that well lol.

Dustin is still a really good striker. Him losing to Charles doesn’t change that. Nate’s boxing is good. But why do you think it’s so much better than Dustin’s?

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

I respect your opinion, but do not share it by a long margin.
1) Let us start with my pick (so you have it as well). In my opinion, prime BJ was the best striker of this division.
2) I disagree Conor (prime or not) was better than Dustin. He was the most accurate/powerful. but not the best.
3) Charles is better (technique & IQ) than Dustin and proved that during their fight.
look here for some amazing insights (credit @fortheo)

now, I like Charles, and I do think he is amazing. Maybe he will pass BJ in my mind, btu not there yet.
Now, I must admit one thing: this could be me just overthinking the "good ol'days", and because of it, perhaps it looks better than it was, but I recall BJ Penn being ultra-fast and accurate, above anyone else...

1) BJ might be the best boxer but he's behind Dos Anjos, Cerrone, Pettis, Conor in the overall striking skills. He happened to have the best reaction time of the game (From GSP on Rogan's podcast).

2) I think the hungry, motivated Conor we saw against Alvarez beats Dustin striking. I might be wrong though, but i think Conor has stopped evolving since then (money, alcohol, father time, distractions etc..)

3) Then again, i don't know if Charles has better striking. He got hit a LOT in the first round. I think he finds a way to win because he's durable and he pressures a lot. He broke Dustin but if we compare their standup, Dustin beat the who's who of the division in that department.

 

[Shaddows]

1) BJ might be the best boxer but he's behind Dos Anjos, Cerrone, Pettis, Conor in the overall striking skills. He happened to have the best reaction time of the game (From GSP on Rogan's podcast).

2) I think the hungry, motivated Conor we saw against Alvarez beats Dustin striking. I might be wrong though, but i think Conor has stopped evolving since then (money, alcohol, father time, distractions etc..)

3) Then again, i don't know if Charles has better striking. He got hit a LOT in the first round. I think he finds a way to win because he's durable and he pressures a lot. He broke Dustin but if we compare their standup, Dustin beat the who's who of the division in that department.

ok. Let's start with Charles: did you see the link I posted? it shows how he outstriked Dusting time and again.
Yes, he takes risk, and was hit a lot, but he was winning the striking war (or else he would have stopped with the pressure...

As for COnor, I do agree it was impressive. But look at his fights (at that time, since I agree with you the past-boxing Conor is/was a much lesser fighter than during his peak). He didn't have much diversity.
He had one or two go-to moves and was very accurate (with insane timing). But if a fight goes beyond the first two rounds, he would get absolutely sloppy and get by to a decision.
So I kind of disagree with Conor's assessment (maybe would go with first round Conor as a compromise).

And as for BJ, why would you claim he is behind those guys? We are talking exclusively prime BJ, not the declining version of post-Frankie BJ.

 

[Moro]

This is MMA. I think prime motivated Conor wins against everyone in a striking match

Except the ones he lost to lol Khabib, Dustin etc.

He hasn't fought the best strikers either. You Contards gotta move away from the Kool aid that he's some phenomenal striker.

 

[Marko Polo]

Nah, the MJ 1st round ko loss to sleep still holds a fresh memory stain still.
Dustin is gonna have to do a bit more than this to erase that.
going rock'em sock'em with Dan the punching bag hooker into a decision is not a good look either.

Hooker is a great fighter what are you smokin

 

[fortheo]

I respect your opinion, but do not share it by a long margin.
1) Let us start with my pick (so you have it as well). In my opinion, prime BJ was the best striker of this division.
2) I disagree Conor (prime or not) was better than Dustin. He was the most accurate/powerful. but not the best.
3) Charles is better (technique & IQ) than Dustin and proved that during their fight.
look here for some amazing insights (credit @fortheo)

now, I like Charles, and I do think he is amazing. Maybe he will pass BJ in my mind, btu not there yet.
Now, I must admit one thing: this could be me just overthinking the "good ol'days", and because of it, perhaps it looks better than it was, but I recall BJ Penn being ultra-fast and accurate, above anyone else...

I was only talking about Charles's response to a certain combination that Dustin loves. Dustin did a lot of great things himself and won that round on all three judges scorecard, rightfully so. I do think Dustin would have faded, even if the fight stayed on the feet, though, because of that pace and the body work.

 

[DoNoootin]

Nah no way.

Conor, as you mentioned him; alone, is a BETTER striker...
Poirer is more durable, better cardio and more output/volume...
But that doesn't make him 'better' in terms of form
I think his boxing is pretty sloppy, he is just relentless.

 

[Apollo33]

Anyone that thinks Conor is better at LW is delusional. Conor has zero resume at 155 other than 1 win over alverez and losing twice to Dustin. He has never proven his power translated after 145.

His fans like to overhype one win with Alvarez when Donald Cerrone outstruck Alvarez badly. It's not some world class achievment

 

[BangBang]

Don't know. Pound for pound I'd say FW Sugar Sean is probably better than all of them.

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

Except the ones he lost to lol Khabib, Dustin etc.

He hasn't fought the best strikers either. You Contards gotta move away from the Kool aid that he's some phenomenal striker.

Khabib is not a striker. Fighting with the fear of the takedown is different. That's why i was talking about a striking match. Do you realize we're talking about striking ?

 

[Hazuki Ryo]

Anyone that thinks Conor is better at LW is delusional. Conor has zero resume at 155 other than 1 win over alverez and losing twice to Dustin. He has never proven his power translated after 145.

His fans like to overhype one win with Alvarez when Donald Cerrone outstruck Alvarez badly. It's not some world class achievment

He did well against one of the best boxers of the history of the sport. Anyone doubting Conor's striking abilities IS delusional.

 

[JSN]

After listening to some analysis, I have to say that on the top level, maybe Charles proved he is. Obviously what Poirier does is amazing, and I would be apt to call him the best championship level boxer in LW history, but Charles arguably outstruck Dustin, and he did it smartly by utilizing a larger toolkit. Poirier is amazing at protecting his head and making guys pay for targeting it, and he is also a competent low kicker both offensively snd defensively, but Charles” bodywork, particularly with the knees, seemed to pay higher dividends than the knockdowns Dustin scored.

It will be interesting to see how Dustin rebounds, because if he can protect his body better and still be effective in the same ways he’s currently effective, he might still beat everyone.