UFC 269 witnessed yet another exciting lightweight title fight and this time it was Charles Oliveira who defended his title against Dustin Poirier.
Going into the fight, Dustin Poirier was a sizeable favorite against the champion. And he did put on a dominant performance in the first round, hurting badly Oliveira on multiple occasions.
Oliveira and Poirier engaged in a high-paced brawl in the first round and it seemed Dustin Poirier got the upper hand, who secured a knockdown to finish the round off on a strong note.
However, Charles Oliveira overcame the adversities once again and switched up his game plan in round 2. Oliveira took the fight to the ground and punished Dustin Poirier with brutal ground and pound, which potentially changed the outcome of the fight.
In the third round, Oliveira was too slick with his submissions as he got Poirier in a rear-naked choke to finish the fight. With this loss, Dustin Poirier failed yet again to secure the undisputed UFC lightweight title.
For years, Dustin Poirier has been trying to secure the undisputed UFC title. And even if he won the interim title against Max Holloway, he has lost both his opportunities to win the lightweight title. However, humble in defeat, Dustin Poirier showed his class after the loss at UFC 269 and won the hearts of MMA fans.
Dustin Poirier even promised Charles Oliveira that he would donate $20,000 to the charity of his choice. Following the loss, Poirier said:
“I thought I was too far away to hip scoot and butt scoot to the fence and I did not want to get too crazy pushing him off and trying to get to like half guard or something or give him my back or something. Honestly, I did not want to give him my back.”
Dustin Poirier reveals what went wrong for him at UFC 269
Poirier even confessed that he was shocked with how Oliveira was able to overcome the onslaught from the first round. Poirier also said that he was aiming to take the fight to the later rounds but deviated from his plans, which potentially cost him the fight. Poirier stated:
“His durability. I landed some good shots on him, I thought I was going to get him away in the first round. But, he is the champ man. The game plan was to take my time, I brawled again when I was not supposed to. The game plan was to take it to the third, fourth and fifth and pick him apart.”
Following the loss to Charles Oliveira, Poirier certainly has some huge fights ahead of him including a fourth fight against Conor McGregor. However, whether he will be able to get another shot at the lightweight title in a division stacked with rising contenders is something his fans will be interested to know.