Dustin Poirier had an opportunity to further his legacy and become the undisputed lightweight champion on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 269. However, Charles Oliveira was just that much better with a submission victory in the third round to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship.
Both fighters came out of the gates strong, but it looked like Poirier had the edge, landing several significant strikes to the head and wearing down the Brazilian. The state of the fight turned on its head though in the second round with Oliveira landing a takedown and controlling the ground game and landing several significant strikes, evening up a lot of the scorecards in the process.
Then came the third round and Oliveira put his technical skills to use and was able to transition into a position that showed Poirier’s back and secured his first successful title defense with a standing rear-naked choke.
UFC 269 Results
Charles Olivera (c) def. Dustin Poirier via third-round submission (rear naked choke)
Julianna Pena def. Amanda Nunes (c) via second-round submission (rear naked choke)
Geoff Neal def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Kai Kara-France def. Cody Garbrandt via first-round TKO (punches)
Sean O’Malley def. Raulian Paiva via first-round TKO (punches)
Josh Emmett def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Dominick Cruz def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tai Tuivasa def. Augusto Sakai via second-round knockout (punch)
Bruno Silva def. Jordan Wright via first-round TKO (punches)
Andre Muniz def. Eryk Anders via first-round submission (armbar)
Erin Blanchfield def. Miranda Maverick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ryan Hall def. Darrick Minner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
Tony Kelley def. Randy Costa via second-round TKO (punches, elbows)
Gillian Robertson def. Priscila Cachoeira via first-round submission (rear naked choke)