UFC 143 Results: Breakdown of Potential Dustin Poirier vs. Jose Aldo Fight

After an impressive first round win at UFC 143, rising star Dustin Poirier seems poised to make a title run in the near future.

Defeating Max Holloway with a mounted triangle armbar, Poirier took home Submission of the Night as well as his fifth straight victory.  The win keeps intact Poirier's undefeated streak within the UFC and has catapulted him into the upper tier of the division.

With such a scattered contender line up in the wake of UFC champion Jose Aldo's utter dominance over the division, a matchup between Poirier and the champ may come sooner than expected.

Here is the full breakdown of this possible future bout.

Striking

In mixed martial arts today, few fighters can match the striking prowess of Jose Aldo.  An avid Muay Thai kicking fiend, this former soccer player has some of the hardest strikes in the entire UFC.

Not only does Aldo hit hard, but his strikes are pinpoint accurate.

Poirier has a respectable stand-up game, but the champion's striking is on another level.

Advantage: Aldo.

Grappling

A Brazilian Jui-Jitsu black belt hailing from the famed team Nova Uniao, Jose Aldo is a world class grappler and one of the fiercest in the lower weight classes.

With great take downs and top control, as well as having a solid guard, Aldo is a threat on the ground.  

Poirier has shown fans that the ground is his domain, dominating Max Holloway and Pablo Garza on the mats in his last two fights.

But because of Aldo's credentials, he takes the edge.

Advantage: Aldo.

Submissions

A submission specialist with a creative arsenal of techniques, Poirier has earned almost half of his wins via tap out.

Despite being just a purple belt in jiu-jitsu, Poirier has proven to be quite knowledgeable on the ground and a dangerous submission threat.  

At UFC 143, Poirier put away Max Holloway with a tight triangle armbar from the mount.  Prior to that Submission of the Night performance, Poirier submitted Pablo Garza with a D'Arce choke at UFC on FOX 1.

Aldo is also a huge submission threat, but has shown an affinity for the stand-up game, forgoing his jiu-jitsu base to knockout his opponents.  With just two submission wins in his career, Aldo is a threat, but hasn't shown a want to end fights via tap out.

Advantage: Poirier.

Strength

As one of the  pound-for-pound hitters in the UFC, Jose Aldo is a powerful striker whose punches and kicks can devastate any challenger.

A muscular, strong featherweight, Aldo may soon move up to lightweight if he cleans out the division.  Porier is no slouch, but Aldo gets the advantage here.

Advantage: Aldo.

Conditioning

Poirier has only gone to a decision three times in his career, going 2-1 in these unanimous decision bouts.

Aldo has gone to the third round or further seven times in his career and is no newcomer to long, drawn out wars.

Both guys should have good cardio, with technique and timing to determine this fightnot gassing out.

Advantage: Even.

Variables

The key to this fight is Poirier taking Aldo down and try to submit him.  Aldo has a great guard, but grinding him out on the ground and making him work off his back has garnered success for past opponents.

For Aldo, he'll likely look to keep the fight standing, as his striking is light years ahead of Poirier's striking.  With great take down defense, Aldo has to make sure that he enforces his game plan and keep Poirier on his toes.

As long as Aldo doesn't gas, he should have an advantage.

For Poirier, his inexperience against the upper echelon of the division would be a huge disadvantage for the young featherweight.  Immediately giving Poirier a fight with Aldo may be too much too soon.

Predictions

Although this bout is highly unlikely at this stage of the game, a potential matchup between these two featherweight warriors would be an exciting, yet predictable affair.

Aldo would look to strike with Poirier, pick him apart on his feet while landing heavy blows.  Poirier would want to go to the ground, but Aldo's take down defense is way too good.

Unless Aldo has a bad weight cut and gasses, there's virtually no area that Poirier has an advantage over Aldo.

Prediction: Aldo via knockout (second round).