MIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 09: (L-R) Dustin Poirier punches Benoit Saint Denis of France in a … [+]
Don’t bury the Diamond just yet.
On Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 299, Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier scored a scintillating second-round KO win over Benoit Saint-Denis.
According to oddsmakers, the 35-year-old former interim UFC lightweight champion came into the fight with Saint-Denis as an underdog.
After a rough and tumble first round, Poirier’s superior boxing proved too much for the upstart and favorite Saint-Denis. Poirier starched Saint-Denis with a vicious left uppercut that momentarily dropped the latter.
Moments later, Poirier closed the show with a picture-perfect right hand. A straight right hand to the downed Saint Denis came in before the ref could end the bout, but Poirier emerged victorious.
Saint-Denis had won his last five fights–all by stoppage. The 12th-ranked Frenchman pushed the pace and appeared to have Poirier in some tough situations, but he couldn’t turn the corner.
Poirier was ranked third and will undoubtedly hold his spot after such a strong performance. Poirier was coming off a devastating KO loss to Justin Gaethje in his last fight, but this win somewhat rights the ship.
Whether Poirier gets another title shot in his next fight remains to be seen, but he almost certainly secured a bonus for his KO performance and remains among the elite 155-pound fighters in the UFC.
Saint-Denis is only 28 years old. He has excellent wrestling and pushes a pace that few will be able to maintain. If he can bounce back from his loss to Poirier, he can still be a major player in the division.
However, on Saturday night, he didn’t shine as bright as the Diamond.
First appeared on www.forbes.com