Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight contenders Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier clashed a second time last night (July 28, 2018) at UFC on FOX 30 inside Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Alvarez and Poirier are a pair of the most entertaining men in the sport’s best division, and their 2017 match was all-action before the disappointing finish. Given both of their excellent performances against Justin Gaethje and high ranks compared to the rest of the division, a rematch seemingly with important title implications — even with the Irish elephant in the room — was an absolute must.
It was weird, but it did not disappoint.
Unlike the first fight, Alvarez opened aggressively and attacked the inside of the lead leg. Poirier circled and responded with kicks of his own, but Alvarez responded with a pair of hard body shots. Between his kicks and takedown feints into punches, Alvarez found early success at range.
In the second half of the round, Poirier began to find more success with his straight punches, and his outside low kick landed well also. Both men were getting their licks in, but Alvarez strategy of attacking the lead leg and body of his opponent helped him land at a better percentage.
Make no mistake, Alvarez won the round, but Poirier definitely landed hard shots.
Alvarez scored first to start the second, feinting his usual dart to spin into a back fist. However, he was in trouble moments later, as Poirier jumped on a deep guillotine. Alvarez had to use all his veteran tricks to escape — including a fence grab — but he did so without giving up top position. Still, Poirier was able to scramble up to the fence fairly fast.
Then, Poirier jumped on a second guillotine immediately, this time giving up top position along the fence. This time, Poirier was unable to scramble up immediately, as Alvarez advanced into the back mount and mount. Absurdly, an illegal 12-6 elbow onto the shoulder drawed a stand up, and Poirier immediately went on the offensive. He checked a low kick and stunned Alvarez with a follow up left hand, and Alvarez backed off under a hail of punches.
Similar to the first fight, Poirier landed heavy with his foe pinned to the fence. I’ll be honest, I think one of his knees connected directly into Alvarez’s groin, which no one seems to be talking about. Either way, Poirier’s flurry was relentless, and Alvarez soon fell to the mat.
Controversy or no, Poirier is your winner after two bizarrely reffed fights.
To his credit, Poirier is a smart man. He looked sneaky fast in the cage, shooting out hard jabs and crosses to mark up the Philadelphia native’s face. In addition, he may have gained the stand up in questionable fashion, but he made the most of it immediately. Showing what he learned from the Gaethje fight, Poirier countered with his left hand off the low kick. Once his foe was stunned, Poirier showed off how he’s scored so many knockout wins with really impressive finishing instinct.
Poirier deserves the title shot even if it won’t happen.
As for Alvarez, he made great adjustments. The inside low kicks were great, his takedown feints and takedown game worked wonderfully, and that spinning backfist off the dart was straight up cool. Everything was going perfectly for Alvarez — as well as it can go against a badass like Poirier at least — until he threw that stupid 12-6 elbow. Alvarez was forced to stand up, and it all fell apart soon after.
Such a terrible, stupid mistake.
Last night, Dustin Poirier landed a massive knockout that was not without controversy. Will Poirier receive a title shot or have to fight again?
For complete UFC on FOX 30: “Alvarez vs. Poirier 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE!