In a battle of the UFC’s two young guns in the featherweight division, Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway had a nice little ground scramble and showed their potential tonight at UFC 143.
Holloway, who was drawing comparisons to Anthony Pettis, came out and was able to stuff the first takedown by Poirier, but inevitably was taken down and beaten from there.
Here’s what we learned from the fight.
What we’ll remember about this fight:
The ground scramble that ended the fight was pretty awesome. Poirier had Holloway in an armbar, which he escaped. Then Poirier had Holloway in a triangle and rolled him over and from there took his arm to end the fight.
What we learned about Max Holloway:
Holloway showed some promise in this fight. His UFC debut didn’t go exactly as planned, but he has a lot to learn on the ground. His striking is pretty good, but again, it is the ground game that needs the work.
What we learned about Dustin Poirier:
No matter where this fight goes, Poirier is pretty dangerous. With this win it is his second straight victory by submission. Since moving down to featherweight, he is 4-0 and is on track to have a title shot sometime this year most likely.
What’s next for Holloway:
Holloway will probably get a tune-up fight against a newcomer to the UFC. He is only 20 years old, so I’m sure the UFC will look to keep him under the promotion’s banner and watch him progress.
What’s next for Poirier:
Maybe a fight with recently defeated No. 1 contender Chad Mendes is in the future for Poirier. Poirier needs to get some names on his resume, so why not against Mendes?
Mendes’ training partner, Danny Castillo, is still the only man to defeat Poirier.
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