LAS VEGAS — One of the best lightweight matchups in UFC history is official. UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira weighed in at 155 pounds and challenger Dustin Poirier hit the scale at 154.5 pounds Friday during the UFC 269 weigh-ins at the UFC Apex. Oliveira will make his first title defense against Poirier on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Not only is this a championship fight, but it’s a bout between two of the top pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world. ESPN has Poirier ranked No. 5 and Oliveira at No. 6 in the pound-for-pound rankings and Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the lightweight division.
Oliveira (31-8, 1 NC) has won nine straight fights and took home the title vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov when he stopped Michael Chandler via second-round TKO at UFC 262 in May. The Brazil native had the longest path to an undisputed title in UFC history, with 28 UFC fights before becoming champion. Oliveira, 32, has the most finishes (17) and most submission wins (14) in UFC history.
Poirier (28-6, 1 NC), a former UFC interim lightweight champ, is coming off back-to-back knockouts of Conor McGregor, the latter a doctor’s stoppage TKO at UFC 264 in July when McGregor broke his leg. Poirier, a Louisiana native fighting out of American Top Team in Florida, has won three straight bouts and has just one loss in his past 10 fights — to Nurmagomedov in a September 2019 title fight at UFC 242. Poirier, 32, is in his 27th UFC fight, and if he wins, he’ll have had the second-longest road to an undisputed title.
Both co-main event competitors also made weight. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes weighed in at 134.5 pounds and challenger Julianna Pena was 135 pounds. ESPN has Nunes as its top pound-for-pound women’s MMA fighter in the world. At women’s bantamweight, ESPN has Nunes ranked No. 1 and Pena at No. 3.
Nunes (21-4) is regarded as the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time. The 33-year-old Brazil native, who trains out of American Top Team, has won 12 straight fights, including knockout victories over the likes of Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg. Pena (10-4), a 32-year-old Washington native, has won six of her past eight fights.