The original script for McGregor vs. Holloway 2 did not include calf kicks – the rewrite did
The odds were against Dustin Poirier on Saturday night. The overwhelming number of bettors were against Poirier. UFC president Dana White had been loudly and publicly attempting to get — retired — UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov to come back to the octagon to face Conor McGregor in a rematch before the Poirier fight took place. Ahead of the main event of UFC 257 it seemed as if many had already written the script that saw McGregor landing a left and Poirier crumpling to the mat in defeat.
The original script for the fight, the one that had McGregor winning, lacked calf kicks. The rewrite, compliments of Dustin Glenn Poirier of Lafayette, Louisiana, had an overwhelming number of calf kicks penciled into the margins. It was those kicks that sent McGregor into panic mode and led Poirier to an upset win over the former two-division champion.
The win moved Poirier to 11-2-0-1 since his loss to McGregor in 2014 and put him at the top of the list of fighters who should fight for the UFC lightweight title once the UFC gets around to realizing Nurmagomedov is content to stay retired with a perfect 29-0 record.
Here is a look at the numbers from the main event of UFC 257, which streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view and took place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.