The recently concluded UFC302 match featured several entertaining fights, one of which was the lightweight championship battle between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. ‘The Diamond’ put on quite a performance and a showdown, but it seemed Makhachev had the upper hand and soon had Poirier down on the canvas in a chokehold.
Unsurprisingly, the match was tagged Fight of the Night and had fans on the edge of their seats. Poirier is considered a tough opponent to crack and has battled against former lightweight champion and Makhachev’s coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has also spoken about Poirier’s fighting style and prowess.
Although the fighter managed to hold himself up to the fifth round, Poirier’s longtime friend and coach at American Top Team [ATT], Yves Edwards, said that he was impressed the fighter remained in the octagon for that long seeing as he recently suffered a rib injury which prevented him from grappling for two weeks.
Speaking to MMA Today on Sirius XM, Edwards said: “ The way he performed on Saturday night, man, that totally impressed me, and nobody knows that. And he’s probably going to say, ‘Why did you put that out there’ I know Makhachev wasn’t 100 percent, nobody goes into a fight 100 percent fit. He hurt his ribs and about two weeks before the fight and hadn’t wrestled or fought for two, two and a half weeks. I probably shouldn’t say it, but to me it’s more impressive, Against that guy the way you wrestled that guy with the stiff ribs, okay, I’m impressed.”
Despite his injury and limited training, the fighter managed to last five rounds and fend off nine takedowns. He finally submitted in a round fight after being trapped in a d’arce choke.
“That’s really damn good. I love it,” Edwards said about about Poirier’s skills. “ No the ribs were healed by fight night. It wasn’t like, ‘I can’t fight,’ but its something you kind of have to work around right? Everybody that’s stepped into the octagon more than once, as many times as Dustin, there’s so many times. That you’ve stepped in there with something you have to work around. ..”
Following his defeat, Poirier has discussed plans to retire and maintain a [30-9-0-1] record. The fighter has made a mark in the MMA world and has battled notable opponents like Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Michael Chandler, and many more.
“I mean, I know I can compete with the best of these guys. It’s just like, if I fight again, what am I fighting for? Just to fight? I’ve done that 50 times,” ‘The Diamond’ said in a post-fight interview. “I don’t know, I have a beautiful girl that I love and I’ll have to see. I think that could be it, honestly.”
