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Dustin Poirier isn’t ready to pass to the torch to the next generation just yet.
Despite his vast experience advantage over higher level competition, Poirier walked into his fight at UFC 299 as an underdog to Benoit Saint Denis but none of that mattered once the fists started flying. A wild, back-and-forth brawl erupted between the two lightweights but in the end it was Poirier who unleashed a brutal right hook that demolished Saint Denis in the second round to end the fight.
It was another stunning performance from Poirier as he dispatches a highly touted prospect and gets back in the win column following his loss to Justin Gaethje last year. The knockout came at 2:32 in the second round as Poirier adds Saint Denis to his long list of victims.
“I was getting beat up a little bit … I got him at the end,” Poirier said about the fight. “He was pretty strong. I took this fight because he finished his last five opponents. He’s dangerous. Every win in his professional career, he’s finished. I said I’ve got to take this fight because I honor this game that we do. I’m just a man and I’ve got a lot of respect for Benoit Saint Denis.”
Before he got the knockout, Poirier was definitely tested with a game performance from Saint Denis.
Like The Terminator just marching forward, Saint Denis put on a relentless pace as he threw hard, heavy punches and closed the distance on Poirier throughout the opening round. Poirier made a couple of failed attempts at grabbing one of his signature guillotine chokes but Saint Denis kept finding a way to slip free.
Saint Denis ate some hard shots of his own but somehow he just walked through the punches and kept coming after Poirier. On the inside, Saint Denis launched several hard elbows that clipped Poirier on the top of the head before taking the fight back to the ground again.
It didn’t take long for Saint Denis to advance to take the back and lock on the body triangle but Poirier never gave him an inch as he survived the round.
At the start of round two, Poirier connected with his best punch as he blasted Saint Denis with an uppercut that stunned the Frenchman. As Saint Denis dropped for a takedown, Poirier went for another ill-advised guillotine choke that put him on his back again.
Saint Denis got out of the submission and immediately moved to mount before taking the back to fish for submissions but Poirier eventually worked his way free.
Back on the feet, Saint Denis once again plowed forward but this time Poirier met him with a perfectly timed uppercut that rattled the French fighter and put him on wobbly legs. That didn’t stop him from stepping back into the fire again but Poirier made him pay for it with the right hook that snapped Saint Denis’ head around as he crashed to the canvas.
Poirier followed up with one more punch for good measure as the referee rushed in to stop the fight.
With so many believing Saturday might serve as the moment when Poirier finally slipped from the top of the division and Saint Denis ascended to take his place, the former interim lightweight champion said not so fast. It’s another highlight reel finish to add to a career filled with them as Poirier got the knockout and cements his spot as one of the best 155-pounders in the world.
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