Free Fight! Poirier KO’s Alvarez In Thriller

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Dustin Poirier will begin his climb back to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title contention this Sat. night (June 27, 2020) when he faces off against Dan Hooker in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12 from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Before then, let’s take a trip down memory lane to see one of “Diamond’s” best performances, a knockout win over former Bellator MMA and UFC Lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez. The two had already faced off once before at UFC 211 which resulted in a no contest (NC) after Alvarez landed a couple of illegal knees on a downed Poirier.

After months of back-and-forth on social media, the two signed on to compete one more time in the main event of UFC on FOX 30 in July of 2018. The two me got after it from the jump, proving that the disdain they had for one another wasn’t fabricated and very real. Through the first eight minutes of the fight, Alvarez and Poirier went toe-to-toe strike-for-strike and submission attempt for submission attempt in a thrilling battle.

With a little over 90 second remaining the second round, Poireir tagged Alvarez with a clean three-punch combination that was kicked off with a knee to the midsection. From there, Dustin unleashed a flurry of strikes and refused to let up until Alvarez – who tried his best to fight back — crumbled to the canvas and the referee put an end to the fight.

The win gave Poirier his fourth in a row and set him up for an interim Lightweight title fight against then-Featherweight champion, Max Holloway at UFC 236. Poirier went on to win his first UFC title, but failed to unify the belt against current division king, Khabib Nurmagomedov, later that year. Now, Poirier will look to knock off Hooker in an attempt to insert himself in the thick of the 155-pound championship race, which now has one less big player in the mix.

For more on UFC on ESPN 12: “Poirier vs Hooker” click here.