Dustin Poirier has eaten some devastating shots in the UFC’s featherweight and lightweight divisions.
The former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion retired in the main event of UFC 318 after a unanimous decision loss to longtime rival and BMF titleholder Max Holloway.
Poirier’s chin got cracked early on into their fight but ‘The Diamond’ ultimately survived to see the five-round distance, getting his own knockdown on Holloway in round 2.
We’ve seen Dustin Poirier go down in the Octagon before, with a few KO losses on his 22-9 UFC record, such as Michael Johnson back in 2016.
Poirier says he’s been hit harder in his career.
Dustin Poirier names Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor as his hardest hitting opponents
In a recent pre-fight interview with American Top Team, Poirier was asked who had hit him the hardest, whether it was in sparring or a UFC bout.
“I’ve been stopped by strikes a couple of times,” Poirier said.
“Head kick from Gaethje was a nasty one,” Poirier said of his head kick KO loss to former BMF champion Justin Gaethje.
Gaethje knocked out Poirier at UFC 291, becoming the first fighter in 7 years to do so.
“First fight with Conor was a good spot,” Poirier said of his first fight with Conor McGregor in 2014.
“He hit me with a good punch,” Poirier said of McGregor, who he defeated in their rematches years later.
McGregor TKO’ed Poirier in the opening round of their featherweight bout at UFC 178.
Dustin Poirier retired without fighting a few iconic names in UFC
Poirier’s resume in the lightweight division will go down as one of the greatest in history.
Poirier shared the cage with the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor (3x), Max Holloway (3x), Charles Oliveira, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje—the list of former champions goes on.
There are a few notable fighters Poirier didn’t get the chance to fight, mentioning on The Ariel Helwani Show how he would have loved to scrap with names like Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and BJ Penn in his prime.
Of course, there’s Nate Diaz as well, who Poirier was set to face at UFC 230 in 2018, but withdrew due to injury. The fight was never remade.
Once on the docket for UFC 254 in 2020, Poirier almost ended up fighting legendary lightweight Tony Ferguson after his 12-fight win streak was snapped by Justin Gaethje earlier that year. However, Poirier and the UFC couldn’t negotiate a deal and the fight never happened.