It has been about 21 months (June 2024) since now-retired Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend Dustin Poirier fell short against Islam Makhachev in their Lightweight title fight at UFC 302 inside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
But even now, the size difference between the two is still a talking point.
During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Poirier discussed how much fighters can rehydrate after extreme weight cuts — and claimed that Makhachev was significantly heavier
than him on fight night.
“Islam is huge,” Poirier said. “Hunter [Campbell] from the UFC — I was in his office not too long ago, and they keep records of all the fight-night weights. They don’t release them all, but they keep them. We were talking about the Islam fight, and he told me his weight, and I was like, ‘That’s insane.’”
Rogan then asked just how big Makhachev was.
“192 pounds, I think — something like 190, 191, somewhere around there,” Poirier said. “I was 176. I looked across at him under the spotlights, and he had veins in his shoulders. I’m like, ‘f—k, this guy is huge.’”
If accurate, a jump to around 190+ pounds less than 24 hours after weighing in at 155 pounds would be staggering.
However, Makhachev quickly pushed back on the claim after the clip made the rounds online.
“I’ve never weighed more than 80 kg [176 pounds], ever,” Makhachev wrote on Telegram.
For what it’s worth, Makhachev weighed 178 pounds for his title bout against Renato Moicano at UFC 311 just seven months after UFC 302.
Whether Poirier exaggerated or not, one thing is clear — Makhachev has long been considered one of the bigger Lightweights in the sport, and he’s now continuing to build his legacy competing at Welterweight.
