Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier went into hostile territory against a hostile opponent, but he came out with a huge victory under his belt.
Poirier took on Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje, and the two went to war.
The two started slugging right from the beginning. The Highlight landed a leg kick as his home state fans screamed his name. Poirier landed an uppercut.
Gaethje bled from his eye and soon after Diamond landed a long punching combination. However, Poirier moved gingerly on his front leg, which obviously hurt from The Highlight’s leg kicks.
Poirier, however, stayed heavy on the offense, throwing combination after combination. With only a minute and thirty left, The Highlight ate 38 punches.
Dustin landed a body kick and shortly after got a few heavy shots on his opponent. Gaethje still went for the leg before the round came to a close.
Gaethje came with the pressure in Round 2, chasing Poirier around the cage and landing some hard shots. Diamond, however came back with a punch-kick combination.
Dustin Poirier had to stop the fight for an eye poke, and referee Herb Dean gave Gaethje a hard warning about keeping his hands closed.
The fight started again with a touch of the gloves, showing that there were no hard feelings between the two. The brutality started soon after, though. Both men landed hard shots in their exchanges. Justin continued with the leg kicks, but Poirier came back with his uppercuts and straight shots.
EVERYTHING WE DREAMED OF!!#UFCGlendale pic.twitter.com/nFkspFJi3y
— UFC (@ufc) April 15, 2018
Dustin went for a takedown but missed it. Justin chased Diamond around the cage. Again the Arizona crowd began screaming his name.
Again, Diamond thought about a single leg, but not only did he fail to take Gaethje down, he ate an elbow. The Highlight ended the round with a flipping wheel kick, living up to his nickname.
The two both went for leg kicks in Round 3. Poirier tried to catch Justin’s leg, but Gaethje rolled out.
Dustin bled from his eye. He took The Highlight down, but Gaethje didn’t stay there for long.
Justin landed a massive leg kick. Both men looked tired as they were halfway through the fight.
Gaethje STUNS Poirier here in round 3!!#UFCGlendale pic.twitter.com/AGxhAmpRFJ
— UFC (@ufc) April 15, 2018
Dustin looked hurt as Gaethje stalked him around the cage. The Highlight clinched with his opponent, kneeing Poirier’s inner leg.
The two broke away from each other, and Justin continued to stalk his hurt opponent. Dustin landed a leg kick, but Gaethje returned with an uppercut.
Poirier landed an elbow before the two clinched up against the fence. Diamond went in for an uppercut then chased Justin around with leg kicks.
Again, the fight had to be stopped for an eye poke. There were no warnings this time, though, as Herb Dean took a point away from Gaethje, and the crowd didn’t like it one bit. Poirier had to see a doctor.
The fight started again with 15 seconds left in Round 3. Neither fighter had enough time to accomplish anything.
Gaethje went back to stalking in Round 4, but Poirier landed a huge shot and and went in for the kill, throwing strikes like his life depended on it. After throwing what must have been ten lefts and fights, Gaethje dropped to his knees, giving Dean no choice but to stop the fight.
OH MY GOD DUSTIN POIRIER!!!#UFCGlendale pic.twitter.com/i7QVcWxpWa
— UFC (@ufc) April 15, 2018
Winner by fourth round TKO: Dustin “Diamond” Poirier!!!
