Injured Poirier Couldn’t Wrestle Coming Into UFC 302

A rib injury suffered two weeks before UFC 302 kept Dustin Poirier from wrestling or grappling in the final weeks of his training camp for Islam Makhachev.

Dustin Poirier put on a gutsy performance at UFC 302, taking lightweight champion and P4P No.1 Islam Makhachev all the way to the fifth round before finally being submitted (watch the highlights here). And according to Poirier’s teammate, he did it with injured ribs.

“The way he performed on Saturday night, that was super impressive to me,” Edwards told MMA Today’s RJ Clifford. “And nobody knows this, and he’s probably gonna be like, ‘Man, why’d you put that out there?’ I know [Makhachev] was also not 100%. Nobody goes into a fight a 100%. But [Poirier] hurt his ribs like two weeks before the fight and hadn’t wrestled or grappled for like two and a half weeks.”

Poirier had noted before the fight with Makhachev was even a possibility that he had ‘f—ed up ribs’ from the Benoit Saint-Denis fight, and it sounds like that lingering injury turned into a full-blown problem near the end of his UFC 302 training camp.

“It’s impressive against [Makhachev],” Edwards continued. “Against somebody else, it wouldn’t matter. But against [Makhachev], it’s like, ‘Man! You wrestled like that against that guy with hurt ribs? Okay, I’m impressed.’”

Clifford noted that Poirier’s takedown defense was pretty on point in the face of Makhachev’s relentless wrestling attacks. Islam went just 5 for 16 through the fight. To do that well against a top Dagestani fighter in general is impressive. So to do it with injured ribs?

For Dustin Poirier, it’s just another day in the office.

“I mean, for years he had a hip surgery he had to have,” Edwards recounted. “But he fought for years with — I forget what the condition was, but he didn’t have the flexibility in his hips that he has now after the surgery. He’s like, ‘But, everybody does that.’ Makhachev is fighting with injuries. Gaethje’s fought with injuries. Everybody does this at the highest level.”

“But the injury and the opponent, those two things combined, and then the performance? Man, for me, that says a lot.”

After losing to Makhachev, Poirier suggested UFC 302 may have been his last fight. He also seemed hesitant to leave when he’s performing as well has he is.

We can understand why he’s so conflicted … to do that well against the pound-for-pound No. 1 ranked fighter when injured says a lot about “The Diamond” and his abilities. But stubborn injuries are also a sign your body is aging. At 35 years old, Poirier doesn’t heal like he used to. Now he has these injured ribs, another shattered nose, and a potential ACL tear.

No one can question Poirier’s warrior mentality. The spirit is clearly willing, but the flesh getting too weak?