Dustin Poirier Demolishes Eddie Alvarez by TKO, Calls out Khabib Nurmagomedov
Dustin Poirier is ready for his shot at gold after settling the score with Eddie Alvarez on Saturday night at UFC on FOX 30.
Following a controversial no contest in their first showdown after Alvarez blasted Poirier with a pair of illegal knees that stopped the fight, the Louisiana native had vengeance on his mind in the rematch.
Unlike the first matchup, both Poirier and Alvarez started the fight with a more measured approach with each fighter looking to land punches at distance rather than rushing forward with reckless aggression.
While Poirier was landing with better accuracy, Alvarez did a good job countering his shots and then pressing for the takedown against the cage. Poirier showed good defense while still trying to land on the inside in the battle of positions against Alvarez.
As the second round got underway, Alvarez once again pressed forward to look for the takedown but once he got deep on the leg, Poirier was able to latch onto a guillotine choke before falling to his guard.
Poirier actually ended up making two attempts at the submission and while he got close on both occasions, Alvarez was still able to fight his way free before ending in a dominant position on top.
Once Alvarez had Poirier trapped against the cage, he began unloading with punches and even went for a face crank to make things extra uncomfortable for his opponent. Alvarez continued the assault as Poirier pressed back against the cage in an attempt to stand up again.
While throwing strikes, Alvarez ended up raising his arm and dropping down an elbow that appeared to land on Poirier’s shoulder. Referee Marc Goddard quickly swooped in to pause the action as he admonished Alvarez for throwing the 12 to 6 elbow, which is illegal.
Upon the restart, Alvarez came charging forward once again except this time he began catching a series of stinging punches from Poirier, who was deadly and accurate with each of his powerful shots.
It was a counter straight that finally clipped Alvarez the hardest on the chin as the former champion was wobbled moving backwards while Poirier just began pouring on the punishment. Rather than going crazy with strikes, Poirier was surgical with his combinations to ensure each punch landed with maximum impact.
Finally after rattling off a blistering series of punches, Alvarez dropped to his knee as the referee once again rushed in — this time to stop the contest as Poirier celebrated the second round TKO victory.
All questions answered. @DustinPoirier, you are one bad dude! pic.twitter.com/NcCeodInjA
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 29, 2018
“I told you so!,” Poirier shouted at the camera after getting the win over Alvarez.
After such a disappointing end to the first fight, Poirier was happy to close the book on his rivalry with Alvarez with such a dominant finish in the main event. He also earned a bit of revenge after Alvarez accused him of wanting out of their first fight following the illegal knee strikes that landed.
“I’ll never quit. I’ll die in here,” Poirier said in response to Alvarez after the TKO win. “This is what I do. I live for this. Everyday. All day. This is who I am. I’m a fighter at heart. I’ll never quit in here. That’s disgusting to hear.”
With several high profile wins in a row, it’s getting awfully hard to deny Poirier his long awaited shot at the title and that’s exactly what he had in mind after the impressive stoppage against a former champion in Alvarez.
“Just look at my track record,” Poirier shouted. “Eddie Alvarez, former champ. Anthony Pettis, former champ. Justin Gaethje, former champ. Eddie Alvarez, former champ. That’s four champions in a row, what else do I gotta do?
“Khabib [Nurmagomedov], where you at? “
