Dustin Poirier Told No More Guillotines
You miss 100% of the guillotines you don’t jump. This infamous philosophy which has came apparent after UFC 299. This is due to Dustin Poirier repeatedly trying to secure the victory against Benoit Saint-Denis due to a guillotine choke. Poirier kept trying to secure the victory by this method even though his coaches had advised against this. The cameras even picked up his corner telling him “No more guillotines” after the first round. Dustin Poirier however, does have a nasty guillotine choke.
While the cameras were able to pick up Mike Brown telling Poirier “No more guillotines” they missed the rest of the interaction. Mike Brown told Poirier to stop looking for that same submission. Brown said this when he explained to MMAFighting;
“They actually didn’t play it in between the rounds, after the first round I said, ‘No more guillotines,’ and then they switched to the other corner,” Brown told MMA Fighting. “But right after I said that, Dustin said, ‘No, but I can hit it! I can hit it!’ I just replied, ‘You crazy bastard.’
“I literally said that and then he went and jumped another one. They didn’t play that part, but there was more words said after I said don’t jump the guillotine.”
Never Going to Stop Going For It
Dustin Poirier ultimately ended up securing the victory against Saint Denis due to a 2nd round knockout. However, despite this, he has been adamant that while he may have failed with the guillotine it won’t stop him from trying in the future. Despite never having finished an opponent with a guillotine choke his coach knows he is effective with the technique. This is due to Mike Brown having witnessed Poirier master the art in the gym over many years they have trained together. Mike Brown explained;
“He puts a lot of guys to sleep in the gym, to be honest,”
“He does have a very good one. He just hasn’t hit them in the fight.”
Brown’s instructions to stop going for a guillotine choke have gotten a lot of media attention around this fight. Brown has admitted that Poirier’s love of this submission got a bigger reaction out of him a few years ago. Explaining this he stated;
“The fight where I was losing my mind is the fight with [Dan] Hooker,” Brown said. “Because he had lost the first two rounds and then he was battling back and then he was jumping guillotine in those later rounds, and had he got stuck on bottom in any one of those rounds, he would have lost the third round and wouldn’t have won the decision.
“But somehow he wouldn’t hit the guillotine, but he would somehow scramble to get back to his feet and start dropping bombs on him and doing damage, and then somehow stealing the round anyway. He would somehow find a way to make it work. He made us sweat and bite our nails in that one, that’s for sure.”
Would Be Poetic for Dustin Poirier to Win Title With Guillotine Choke
Dustin Poirier’s attention now focuses on the main event of UFC 302 on June 1st when he will face Islam Makhachev. Poirier will be challenging for Islam for Makhachev’s lightweight title. Poirier will now be looking to challenge himself to be able to submit the champion using the guillotine choke.
This is not the first time Dustin Poirier will be looking to defeat a champion using a guillotine choke. This is due to back in 2019 Poirier going for a guillotine choke against the then champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242. Poirier looked for a moment like he was going to be able to get the victory and be the first person to hand the Russian fighter a defeat. However, it wasn’t to be and Nurmagomedov was able to escape and then use his top position to rain down punishment. This then eventually led to Nurmagomedov being able to lock in a rear naked choke to end the fight.
Dustin Poirier will now be facing Nurmagomedov’s protégé Makhachev, and Poirier coach Mike Brown admits it would be poetic if a guillotine choke was the method of victory to give Poirier the title. Mike Brown explained;
“It absolutely could happen,”
“He’s done so much in the sport. I almost feel like he doesn’t have anything more to prove, but this is the one box he has to check. I feel like he’s a champion even though he hasn’t won a title, a true UFC title. He’s won the interim. I feel like he’s a champion in my eyes.”
Will Dustin Poirier be able to defeat Islam Makhachev to clinch the lightweight title? Will he clinch it with a guillotine choke?
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images
