Dustin Poirier couldn’t have been more impressed with what Francis Ngannou accomplished in the boxing ring.
Ngannou lost a razor close split decision to Tyson Fury, the lineal boxing world heavyweight champion, in a 10-round boxing match this past Saturday in Saudi Arabia. Despite the scorecards not going in Ngannou’s favor, Poirier believes his former UFC fighting colleague-turned-PFL heavyweight scored a big win for the sport of MMA.
“To see a mixed martial artist who had a short time in his mixed martial arts career – it’s not like he’s been doing it since he was 16 or 15 or 14 like these kids are now – he started later in life, and to see him go in there and not only compete but arguably win the fight is incredible,” Poirier told MMA Fighting while promoting the new Celcius Essentials line.
“I mean, that’s a win for mixed martial arts. It shows we are well versed in all aspects of combat, and we [already knew] that. It was a win.”
Poirier says he wasn’t able to watch the fight live, but he was following along with what was happening — and of course, saw the knockdown Ngannou scored on Fury in the third round.
On top of being on top of the MMA fight game, Poirier is an avid boxing fan, and understands the weight of what Ngannou accomplished as a massive underdog against Fury, who still has never officially tasted defeat inside the squared circle.
“It’s awesome to see because Tyson Fury is arguably one of the best heavyweights to ever walk the earth,” Poirier said.
