• UFC 131

Shotgun Young hits back at Poirier jibe

Jason Young has hit back at Dustin Poirier's claim that Saturday's clash will be a "striker v mixed martial artist" encounter, insisting he is prepared for a war.

British UFC debutant Young makes his bow on one of the biggest stages, in Vancouver, where he can expect over 20,000 fans to watch his featherweight fight. However, Shotgun insists he will not suffer from stage fright.

"It's a big jump from fighting in front of 6,000 to 30,000, but when I'm fighting I don't hear anyone apart from my corner. The only time I notice is when I'm walking out," Young told ESPN.

"I'm pretty zoned when I walk towards the cage, I'll be fine, as soon as the ref says go I won't hear anything."

Poirier enjoys a stand-up war, but he has hinted he will utilise his wrestling and jiu-jitsu to defeat Young this weekend. Young has challenged his rival to stand toe-to-toe, but he does not believe he will be outclassed on the mat.

"Dustin's a really well-rounded fighter, he's a purple belt in jiu-jitsu and he used to wrestle in high school. I haven't seen much of his wrestling in previous fights, but my gameplan is to stand and try to outbox him.

"Listening to an interview by him the other day, he said 'everyone thinks it's going to be striker vs striker, but it's striker vs mixed martial artist'. He's saying he's got more tools than me.

"But just because I go in to strike, I recently fought second degree jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Britto, and I tried to reverse-triangle him. I'm prepared for wherever the fight goes, but my preference is to stand."

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