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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Fresh off a highly impressive UFC debut on New Year's Day, Dustin Poirier's second UFC bout will come at UFC 131 in June.
According to a report from Heavy.com, Poirier will meet Rani Yahya on the UFC's second card in Vancouver.
Poirier stepped in to face Josh Grispi at UFC 125 when Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo was forced out of the event due to injury, and he made a major impression. The former lightweight battered Grispi from the opening bell, handily controlling all three rounds to earn the unanimous decision.
He now enters this fight with a 9-1 overall record. His sole loss came by decision to Danny Castillo in the WEC.
Yahya comes into this event after halting a two fight slide in January. After losses to Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki to close out his time in the UFC's sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting, Yahya defeated Mike Brown last month at UFC Fight for the Troops 2.
UFC 131 takes place on June 11 from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is expected to be headlined by the heavyweight bout between TUF 13 coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.
Penick's Analysis: This is a good featherweight bout, but seems almost like a slight step backwards for Poirier. Yahya definitely has a major experience edge, and he did just pick up a big win against a former Champion in Brown, but he's at a 4-4 mark over his last eight fights and Poirier seems poised to get himself into title contention sometime soon. Still, if they're just taking their time and bringing him along slowly, then this is the right type of bout for him to take. Yahya's a dangerous challenge for anyone, but Poirier can make a statement with a big performance in this fight.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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