Based on his own lofty standards, UFC
299 wasn’t the typical Dustin
Poirier fight.
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After all, the
American Top Team product has faced Conor
McGregor three times, fought for undisputed lightweight gold
twice and headlined numerous cards over the course of his career.
While Benoit St.
Denis entered UFC 299 as a rising star on a five-bout finishing
streak, he didn’t necessarily fit the profile of the usual Poirier
opponent.
“It was kind of a timing thing and the situation of the lightweight
division. There wasn’t any big names to fight,” Poirier explained
at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I wanted to fight,
especially coming off a loss. Nothing was big that they could put
together.
“But this guy is on a streak and has a lot of momentum. When they
offered it to me, that’s why we did it. There was nothing
else at the time, and I honor what I do, man. Eddie
Alvarez gave me a shot when he was a former champion and I was
an up-and-comer. You have to do it. That’s the nature of what we
do.”
For a while, St. Denis gave Poirier all he could handle. The
Frenchman pressured his opponent, landed punches and elbows in
close quarters and outgrappled Poirier on the canvas in the opening
frame. That continued in Round 2, as “The God of War” assumed full
mount early in the stanza. That’s when Poirier found another gear,
and he eventually dropped St. Denis with a picture-perfect right
hook before sealing his come-from-behind triumph with a
standing-to-ground shot at the 2:32 mark of Round 2.
On the heels of a head-kick knockout defeat to Justin
Gaethje last July, it was exactly the type of rebound
performance Poirier needed.
“It feels good to right the ship, take a chance, fight a guy
outside of the Top 10 — my last opponents have been former world
champions, huge main events, huge fights,” Poirier said. “And now
you’ve got this young guy in his 20s who’s finished his last five
opponents, representing France, got a lot of momentum behind him
and a country behind him. I’m like, you know what, ‘Let’s see if I
still got it.’
“It was a long training camp. It was stressful. I had a lot on my
back and it feels good to win.”
Although Poirier was getting the worst of things in the opening
stanza, he also was able to make some valuable observations about
his opponent’s abilities.
“I thought he was gonna want to grapple. I really did,” Poirier
said. “I was surprised at his punching power. In the moment in
there, I didn’t feel like he was a big puncher. He looked like a
big guy, and he’s finished guys on the feet — he’s finished all of
his wins. But I thought he was gonna be a bigger puncher. When he
was landing those shots, there wasn’t that much knockdown power
behind them. I was surprised by his strength. He was pretty
strong.”
While St. Denis did enjoy some moments with his grappling, Poirier
also put himself in some precarious positions by jumping for a
guillotine on multiple occasions. It’s not something he’ll ever
regret.
“He was physically strong. But I thought technically, I know he
comes from a judo background, I thought his hips and his grip
strength was gonna be better against the fence,” Poirier said. “I
took myself down every time. When I was on the mat, it was because
I jumped guillotines. And you miss all the ones you don’t jump,
first of all. I thought he was going to be a ittle bit tougher with
the takedowns against the fence.”
At 35 years old, Poirier has a lot of mileage on his body after
years of fights against some of the sport’s biggest names. There’s
still one goal that’s eluded him, and that’s capturing the UFC
lightweight title (aside from a brief reign as interim champ in
2019).
“That’s the only reason I started fighting was to be the world
champion, to be the best in the world, undisputed,” Poirier said.
“But we’ve got to see. I’ve got to get home and see what makes
sense with my coaches, with my wife and my management and just see
what’s next.
“I’ve done a lot in this sport. I’ve been fighting for a long time
… I’ve done a lot and I’ve checked a lot of boxes, but there’s one
that’s still unchecked and that’s being a world champion.”