And so, the second day of my “UFC 143 Complete Collection” postings comes to a close. I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far, fans and friends, I’ve certainly enjoyed doing my research and filling in all the important details for every single fight.
I like to think of the “Complete Collection” series as a learning experience for both myself and my readers, and hopefully by the end, you’re as excited about UFC 143 as I am.
For the finale of day two of “UFC 143 Complete Collection,” we reach the last fight before the pay-per-view and the main event of the “UFC on FX” preliminary broadcast: Dustin Poirer vs. Max Holloway.
A two-fight veteran of the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, Dustin Poirer entered the famed blue cage with a record of 7-0 and left it 8-1. Poirer met top-ranked (at the time) Josh Grispi in his UFC debut at UFC 125. The event was supposed to be headlined by Grispi (who was 14-1 with 13 wins by stoppage) taking on Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship. Poirer was Aldo’s replacement after an injury forced Aldo off the card.
Facing the No. 2 featherweight in the division, Poirer controlled, dominated and honestly exposed Josh Grispi for three rounds before taking the unanimous decision win. Poirer has followed up that victory with two more, and his record currently stands at 11-1.
For this event, Poirer was originally supposed to fight Erik Koch, another fast-rising star with a great record and seemingly-unlimited potential. After an injury forced Koch out of the bout, Poirer was given Ricardo Lamas as a replacement opponent. Lamas was a pretty worthy replacement opponent, too. His record stands at 11-2, he’s on a two-fight win-streak with both wins by stoppage and he has a majority of his wins by stoppage.
But then Ricardo Lamas got injured as well.
And so, Max Holloway, an unknown, gets the shot of a lifetime against a talented fighter who is quickly ascending up the ranks. Holloway has been fighting as a professional mixed martial artist for a little over a year and has an unblemished record of 4-0.
I hate to re-use an old term, especially when I apply it to a fighter I’ve never seen fight, but I can’t help but think of Holloway as nothing but a sacrificial lamb.
If he proves me wrong, I’ll be more than happy to eat some humble pie, but I just don’t think that’s going to happen. I would’ve loved to see Poirer take on Koch; I would’ve enjoyed seeing Poirer take on Lamas. But taking on a 4-0 unknown, a rookie, when you’re on a big hot streak and probably only a handful of fights away from legitimate championship relevancy?
It’s pretty obvious that this is a fight where two previous opponents pulled out due to injury.
If Dustin Poirer doesn’t win this one, I’d be pretty shocked. This is honestly a “gimme” fight for him. So long as he doesn’t let his newfound fame and divisional relevancy get to his head, so long as he doesn’t look past Holloway or the fact that anything can happen in MMA… So long as he does all of that, Poirer should win this fight, and win it dominantly.
Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.
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