The fight was labeled as one of the best fights of the year and it nearly lived up to the billing.
However, the fight ended earlier than people anticipated when Justin Gaethje connected with a head kick just a minute into the second round, taking down Dustin Poirier and capturing the BMF title.
“The Diamond” was able to land 27 strikes in the six-minute fight, all of them labeled as significant. He connected with 21 strikes to the head, four to the body, and two to the legs of Gaethje. “The Highlight” had 41 strikes, all significant, with 23 to the head, seven to the body, and an astonishing 11 to the legs.
The reason that it’s astonishing is that Gaethje isn’t necessarily known for his legs, so the fact that he landed so many including the final blow is impressive.
“It sucks,” Poirier said in his postfight press conference. “You know, obviously, losing sucks, but I’ve lost before. I’ve said the same thing before. It’s not cool to be acquainted with these feelings. But I’ve been here before. But, the career I’ve had and the fights I’ve had, and where I come from,
I feel like I’ve already won.”
Now that Poirier and Gaethje have one win each against the other, could a trilogy fight be in the cards for these two lightweights?
“We’ll see man,” Poirier said. “We’re 1-1 and we both knocked each other out, so we”ll see.”
With the win, Gaethje almost certainly moves into the driver’s seat for a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship to face the winner of the upcoming match between the current champ Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira in October.
“Life’s crazy man,” Gaethje said after the bout. “I mean, I thank God every day for this. It means everything to work that hard and find success, its truly a special feeling.”
Poirier will be back in Acadiana this week, doing a backpack giveaway at Service Chevrolet Cadillac on Wednesday, August 2. The event begins at 10 a.m. and backpacks will be available while they last.