Is Dustin Poirier a submission fighter?
With a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to his name, Dustin Poirier is equipped with all the necessary tools to dominate his opponents on the ground.
The Louisiana brawler has seven wins via submission on his MMA resume. In his UFC tenure so far, the former interim lightweight champion has pocketed four submission victories.
Poirier's earliest win on the ground in the UFC came against Pablo Garza in 2012 at UFC on Fox 1 via D'Arce Choke. Subsequently, he faced Max Holloway at UFC 143 and mounted 'Blessed' with a triangle-armbar. The agonizing submission forced the debutant Holloway to tap.
After losing via D'Arce Choke to Chan Sung Jung at UFC on Fuel TV 3, Dustin Poirier faced featherweight Jonathan Brookins in the TUF 16 Finale. 'The Diamond' once again proved his finesse on the ground with a D'Arce Choke submission victory over Brookins.
Check out Poirier's win over Jonathan Brookins below:
Former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis was the most recent victim of Dustin Poirier's submission game in the UFC. At UFC Fight Night 120 in 2017, Poirier's body-triangle submission over 'Showtime' earned him the fight of the night honors.
When Dustin Poirier almost caught Khabib Nurmagomedov in a submission
At UFC 242, Dustin Poirier challenged Khabib Nurmagomedov for the undisputed lightweight throne. After two rounds of trading shots with 'The Eagle,' Poirier caught Nurmagomedov with a deep guillotine attempt in the third frame. Nurmagomedov displayed his mental fortitude and somehow managed to roll out of the choke. Poirier was seemingly tired of the grueling submission attempt and eventually got choked out by his Dagestani rival.
In an interview with UFC Unfiltered, Dustin Poirier reflected on his close call with victory against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“It was close. It was as close as it can get. I would have finished a lot of guys in the UFC with that choke — a lot of guys. If there’s a centimeter of space where [Nurmagomedov] can roll his hips to the mat and just create a little bit of space and a little bit of breathing space. I should have went full guard and controlled his whole body and his hips. I could have really folded him over. Simple things like that which would have finished 90 percent of the guys — that ten percent or five percent that Khabib is in, you just don’t finish guys with that," said Dustin Poirier.