UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier

True but keep in mind, Diego came in against Gregor on short notice. Gregor was still expected to battle Brad Riddell at the time. Diego is a cardio freak, his conditioning is what got him ahead against the underrated terror Mairbek Taisumov. I’d argue he simply wasn’t up for the task against Gregor’s fully prepared camp. And even with the shortcomings, Diego put on an excellent scramble in the first round, displaying his expert jiu-jitsu skills. Would he have beaten Gregor with more preparation? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s easy to forget just how good he is despite his age.

And keep in mind, his only other loss before then was a split decision, fight of the night against the always accoladed but always overlooked Beneil Dariush, where both men pushed each other to their absolute limits. My pick is not concrete as to whether or not Diego wins, but he certainly isn’t a lock as far as I’m concerned.

Also, I’d like to point out that while Mateusz has been undeniably dominant in his last two fights, his competition were terrible matchups in his favor. Scott Holtzman gave his absolute worst performance I’ve seen in his UFC career, and Jeremy Stephens had zero chance moving up a weight class and being way to one dimensional to handle his exceptional wrestling prowess. Diego has beaten Mairbek Taisumov, Rustam Khabilov, Anthony Pettis, Oliver Aubin Mercier and Jared Gordon. Hell of a UFC resume, definitely uncertain in my opinion who wins this.