It may seem, to those with the benefit of hindsight, that Dustin Poirier was always destined to reach the upper echelon of the sport of mixed martial arts. However, the path he trod was far from smooth; not a soul expected him to become the best action fighter in the sport back when he made his UFC debut at 21-years-old, after a 1-1 WEC run, against a man originally scheduled to fight Jose Aldo.
Yet Dustin beat the odds – not for the first time in his life – by shocking Josh Grispi and then mauling three more fighters in quick succession before finally coming up against mountains too steep for him to conquer at the time in ‘The Korean Zombie’ and Cub Swanson. And so, for neither the first nor the last time, Poirier buckled down and went to work, never even considering stagnation.
His hands had shown promise, but El Diamante achieved more of his first thirteen wins with grappling than striking. After a few more wins at featherweight, the unstoppable rise of one Conor McGregor came at the expense of a still-raw and reckless Dustin, but by the time he began his lightweight run six months later it was clear that he had already become a more patient, intelligent striker.
In that next fight – against future lightweight contender, elite grappler, and surprisingly good brawler Carlos Diego Ferreira – Poirier proved his anti-grappling chops (which have been unfairly maligned by fans) at a new level, and showed some of that newfound poise and comfort, fighting with intention rather than anger.
Though his feet were still a bit of a mess, especially when he got excited for the finishing sequence, the progression was clear as day. It would take some more time to entirely train the reckless, sloppy street brawler out of him. Yet obviously the results would be worth it. When Dustin finished his final evolution, he would be a gentleman’s brawler, an intelligent striker who is more than happy to go to war, but can dispatch all but the best fighters with relative ease. The sheer beauty of his boxing would capture the attention of fans in the next stage of his career, displaying rhythm, flow, pace, artifice, and most importantly, process.
The beginnings of his hillbilly shoulder roll/high elbow guard that he used as a foundation could be seen well before this, but now it became the basis for his striking defense and counter boxing. He already had enough tools in the bag to make him a threat at lightweight, especially as he began to fill out his short but wide frame in the more comfortable weight class, but Poirier really became the fighter we know and love today when he developed even more poise under fire after the loss to Michael Johnson, becoming good at pitching, catching, and countering without having to reset. That would be his last loss to a non-champion or interim champ.
And that is when Poirier went on the biggest tear of his career. He proved his newfound boxing savvy against veteran Jim Miller, but struggled with the leg kicks of the now-longest tenured fighter in UFC history. After that, it was past, present, and future champions for the next six fights, beginning with Eddie Alvarez.
In those days, ‘The Underground King’ was known as the best brawler in the division, famous for his dirty boxing and legendary wars, including two with Michael Chandler. After coming off his own embarrassing loss to McGregor, Eddie looked shaky at times in the first Poirier fight, ultimately escaping with a no-contest after an illegal knee caused what Dustin describes as the only severe brain injury of his career. However, the Philly brawler rebounded, proving to still be one of the best in the sport by defending his spot against another violent maniac newcomer in Justin Gaethje. That masterful performance, highlighted by an admirable commitment to body hitting, made it all the more impressive when Dustin went through the fire with Alvarez again and came out smiling. Poirier’s second round knockout stands today as arguably his second most iconic finishing flurry, showing even more creativity, odd angles, and strike variety than his legendary finish of Conor McGregor a few years later.
Before that final Alvarez fight, Dustin had already arguably stamped his claim at the most violent man alive, outdueling Gaethje before a perfect straight left began yet another lengthy finishing sequence. That smooth, beautiful battering of ‘The Human Highlight’ felt almost as though he danced a samba with his stumbling foe as his partner, one who would not go down until the referee pulled Poirier off.
5 years ago, #OnThisDay Dustin Poirier stopped Eddie Alvarez in their rematch in the 2nd round at UFC on Fox 30. pic.twitter.com/37bXfIylZO
— Josh (@JUchiha909) July 28, 2023
I’ve not even mentioned the demolition of former champion Anthony Pettis, and the hits don’t stop there, as the last fight of that legendary winning streak would go down as the best fight of Dustin’s career, and to this day one of the best fights to ever take place inside a cage, period.
Max Holloway, in the second of what is to be three meetings total, was on his own legendary winning streak. Yet the Diamond would not break against the swarming, volume-based onslaught of ‘Blessed,’ even when he seemed to be wearing thin in round four. Although the power difference is what many point towards, Poirier’s unique defensive system really flummoxed Max, protected him on those occasions when Holloway managed to take the front foot, set up those massive counters that rocked the iron-chinned Hawaiian, and perhaps saved Dustin in the later rounds when Holloway looked poised to take over the fight as his offense began to snowball, as is his way.
Dustin Poirier has a lot of physical gifts, but not the explosive power of a Michael Chandler, nor the reactions and quickness of a Jose Aldo, nor the game-changing length that a fighter like Dan Hooker has, nor even the unending cardio of a Max Holloway. What Dustin does have is perseverance unending, an unusual and well-honed approach to MMA striking, and the ability to fight forever, to truly fight like his life depends on it until the wheels fall off. To be honest, even that may not stop him.
He also has somewhat unusual natural attributes, or at least ones that are less often considered. Dustin is a shockingly ambidextrous puncher with elite upper body control and good vision, and yes, a favorable ape index despite being shorter. His raw endurance may not stack up to fighters like Dvalishvili or Holloway, but he has an unmatched ability to fight when tired, and to get second winds. Most importantly, though, may just be that intangible aspect of boxing, the feel for when and how to strike, the ancestral muscle memory from generations of bayou brawlers who could throw punches from any angle.
Again though, it took a lot of work to mold that set of abilities into a top level mixed martial artist. Fighters of this archetype do not tread an easy path, they must walk through the fire, get stronger as they get hit, and often must break their opponent when the flames are at their hottest or fall in the process. Most athletes who choose this path of action fighting will falter against more careful, process-driven strikers who can control pace and distance, or against dominant wrestlers and smothering grapplers who don’t ever give a volume striker a chance to unload. Being all about that volume and violence usually opens up avenues for more considered skillsets to pick an action fighter apart. It happened to Poirier several times on his rise to the top, but eventually he got to a point where he was comfortable and defensively aware in prolonged exchanges and capable of returning offense while under fire instead of just hoping to agree with his foe to each take turns on the attack.
But Poirier proved himself a different animal than all other brawlers, even becoming capable of boxing effectively off his back foot. In a few short years – while never taking time off from fighting talented, dangerous killers – he went from being incapable of pitching and catching in pocket exchanges to knowing how to set up perfect traps against onrushing fighters like Justin Gaethje and even fighters the caliber of Max Holloway. A few fights later, Poirier would even notch the crowning achievement of his career when he weakened one of the sharpest MMA strikers ever with counter left hooks and calf kicks before turning the tables, taking the front foot, and becoming the first man to ever knock out Conor McGregor. Dustin took Conor’s mystique of striking invincibility from him, and never gave it back, out-striking him with comfort in their trilogy bout before savaging him on the ground.
When Dustin Poirier became the first, and only man, to knockout Conor McGregor 💥#UFC318 | Saturday | LIVE on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/QwcdvFtlba
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 18, 2025
The Diamond will always fight his fight. If someone wants to kick his legs and handfight their way into exchanges, he will eschew playing patty-cake and tee off on their face to counter the kicks. If a fighter wants to stand in front of him, bobbing and weaving, dancing their way in and out of range with their hands down, they’ll get knocked the fuck out. If a foe wants to foul blatantly and swing overhand rights into takedowns, Dustin will blast them on the entry, spit out his enemy’s blood, and find a way to find a finish. If an opponent wants to bludgeon him with hooks from outside of his range and use knees to punish him in close, Poirier will bite down and willingly eat as many shots as it takes to make them feel the pain he felt, and then some. If a challenger wants to overwhelm him with volume and pace, he will knock their block off and if they survive will still out-damage them late in the fight on pure tenacity.
At his peak, there was not a striker near his weight who could stand in the face of Dustin’s onslaught on the feet. Longer men like Hooker, powerful single-punch hitters like Chandler, all-time great brawlers like Alvarez, young guns like St. Denis, and slick kickers like Pettis all fell before his onslaught. Diamonds do not break.
Again, it still took time to evolve, to pair that perfect ten on the Mohs scale with a now world famous boxing style. He learned to box with a constant yet irregular rhythm when delivering his long combinations, all the more effective because he can generate power at any distance and from odd angles, off-platform yet while maintaining a solid base beneath him.
This evolution of Poirier proved his skills in the crucible, out-brawling the best brawlers, being sharper than the best boxers, and hurting the hardest hitters more than they could hurt him. It should be no surprise to learn that Poirier has always found comfort in a melee, long before his level of polish, poise, and precision caught up to his willingness to scrap. As far back as Fightville, Poirier could be seen “out-dawging” his teammates while his coach used him as an enforcer to punish slackers. Despite so many submissions early in his career, Poirier still found time to swang, bang, and enter the WEC with three knockouts to his name.
And we must not act as though Poirier was just an unskilled brawler early on, he fought as a right-handed southpaw from the beginning, a choice which shows a fight nous far beyond his years.
Perhaps it was Tim Credeur who directed him down that path, or an earlier boxing coach, or maybe just knowledge earned through years of trial-and-error. After all, Dustin got into so many unorganized fights on the streets of Lafayette, Louisiana as a kid that he got sent to juvenile detention and then dropped out of school at 13 years of age. Despite that all and what it makes society think of a young man, it requires a rare and thoughtful individual to recognize that he can set up his power better by fighting in reverse.
No matter when or why he began doing it, Poirier showed the signs of a considered process in the early days, and has only polished it to a shine through hard-fought competition at every level since then. Dustin sets up his weaker rear left hand with his strong right jab/lead hook, which lays the groundwork for the shift into a powerful overhand right, his ultimate explosion of single-punch power. Although the level of polish, and especially his defensive awareness, has changed over time, that same process has flummoxed professional fighters for the better part of a decade, presenting a puzzle painted in brutality that few have ever solved.
Hell, maybe it simply began as a way to turn a weakness, a propensity to overswing in the midst of a brawl, into a strength. I like to think a young Dustin Poirier naturally found himself throwing the shifting overhand as many young brawlers do, and was either coached or decided himself to just fight as a southpaw so the shifting overhand would land with that much more power and surprise. One can see that a younger Poirier consistently lost his stance when delivering his famous swarming finishers, and even threw himself out of it to land punches just on a regular basis, but by the time he got to the big show he began to realize he was meant to keep a semblance of a stance even when throwing off-platform.
Over the years he grinded until learning to keep a solid base even in the midst of long combinations, like the famous one that finished Conor McGregor at UFC 257. His legs stay right under him without his feet becoming fully squared, all while unloading twenty-eight consecutive punches to finish one of the best strikers of all time. Compare that to early fights like the win over Brookins or the loss to Zombie, where he throws himself into the air with no fear for his own safety, lunging forward in a desperate desire to land fight-changing punches. When Poirier first faced a fighter in The Korean Zombie who showed as much comfort under fire, but more poise than himself, he paid for it in blood and tears.
That is the natural growth cycle of an MMA fighter, but what is exceptional about Poirier and fighters like him is that they were fighting top competition from a shockingly young age.
In his sixth pro contest – at age 21 – Poirier debuted in the WEC against Danny Castillo, who had already fought Ricardo Lamas, Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis. He would never again lose to a fighter who was not a top contender or champ in the UFC, and two bouts later was beating up a man originally booked to fight Jose Aldo.
The Diamond chose the hardest road possible, he polished his skills and sharpened the edges through the grueling trial by fire that is the fight game. It’s a world where you pay for mistakes in brain cells and blood, yet Dustin Poirier never once backed down from paying that cost.
Poirier also earned the respect of millions by not letting the cost of success, nor the success itself, change him. He simply paid his dues to be the boss so he could provide for his family the only way he knew how, and despite failing at times – because he is human – always got back up, he kept coming forward until the bittersweet end, tomorrow night in New Orleans. Then, now, and forever, Dustin Poirier can hold his head high. His retirement will be felt by the sport of mixed martial arts, a loss that fans of violence will not soon forget, but a win to himself, his wife, his daughter, and his son on the way. That’s what really matters.
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Dustin Poirier earns his 12th KO in an epic battle against Justin Gaethje pic.twitter.com/el0Yxo7FSc
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) April 15, 2018
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