Dustin Poirier has a message for 'best boxer in the UFC' Max Holloway after knocking out Conor McGregor
Dustin Poirier provoked Max Holloway in his post-fight interview by remembering that he has beat him twice. Holloway claimed to be the best boxer in UFC after his victory over Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Island 7 last weekend.
Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier competed for the interim UFC lightweight belt at UFC 236, where 'The Diamond' captured the title following a unanimous decision win over the Holloway.
Following his unexpected win against Conor McGregor at UFC 257, Dustin Poirier stated that he displayed an excellent counter boxing game against the Irishman and called out "UFC's best boxer", Holloway.
"I think I showed a little bit of counter boxing here. I know Max Holloway thinks [that] he has the best boxing [in the UFC], but I have got two wins over the kid... Nothing but respect to him, I am a big fan, but I have beat him twice. And I felt like I was boxing pretty well with Conor here," said Dustin Poirier.
A huge underdog ahead of tonight's UFC 257 main event against McGregor, Dustin Poirier showed how much he has evolved since he first met the Irishman back in 2014.
On that occasion, McGregor sent Dustin Poirier to the canvas with relative ease within two minutes in the first round. However, Dustin Poirier proved to be a much tougher opponent in their rematch, knocking McGregor out in the second round of the fight.
What's next to Dustin Poirier?
Dustin Poirier's win over Conor McGregor at UFC 257 came as a surprise for many analysts and fans. Even the promotion hoped that McGregor would win the bout so they could rematch him against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Ruining everyone's plans, Dustin Poirier showed why he is one of the best lightweight contenders in UFC. "The Diamond" kept things under control in his rematch with McGregor until eventually finding a space to counter-attack. A sequence of well-connected punches sent the Irishman down, unable to fight back.
It seems unlikely that Khabib will return to fight Dustin Poirier. The promotion will probably match him up against the other winner of tonight's event, Michael Chandler, who made his UFC debut with a first-round win over Dan Hooker.
After winning the interim UFC lightweight belt and beating McGregor, Dustin Poirier has shown how much he deserves another title shot. It remains to be seen if that is also in UFC's plans.