Dustin Poirier explains why he got rocked in the first round of his fight against Michael Chandler
Dustin Poirier has revisited his grueling back-and-forth fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 281 and explained why he got rocked in round one.
The fight witnessed 'Iron' stun Poirier in the first round and unleash a barrage of strikes on him. Nevertheless, 'The Diamond' managed to survive and eventually defeated Chandler via submission in round three of their lightweight bout.
In the latest edition of The MMA Hour, host Ariel Helwani suggested that Poirier was rocked on his feet in round one against Chandler. 'The Diamond' responded by claiming that it was a headbutt that stunned him. The former interim UFC lightweight champion stated:
"None of them shots really hit me clean. I was rocked from a headbutt bad, man. That's what started the whole barrage of him trying to finish me against the fence. The headbutt was the biggest shot I took that night."
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Additionally, when asked if he felt the headbutt was intentional, Dustin Poirier replied by saying:
"No, not at all. Not at all. He kind of went down like, to take the shot. I kind of down-blocked, and I started to sprawl. And as he was coming back up, and then it was a good shot." Poirier added, "I was really hurt that's why, immediately, I went back to the fence in the first round to kind of use it as a crutch."
Dustin Poirier recalled that Michael Chandler went berserk trying to finish him against the fence. 'The Diamond' also highlighted that Chandler's headbutt struck his jaw, which badly hurt him and had him worried. Poirier indicated that he rolled with Chandler's punches, ensured nothing hit him flush, and rallied to win the fight.
Watch Poirier discuss the topic at 1:10 in the video below:
Daniel Cormier suggests the ideal next opponent for Dustin Poirier
Towards the end of his aforementioned conversation with Helwani, Poirier was asked about potentially fighting Beneil Dariush. While 'The Diamond' seemed uninterested in facing Dariush next, MMA legend Daniel Cormier recently made a case for a possible Poirier-Dariush matchup.
What a performance from @beneildariush! 🙌
He takes the unanimous decision victory over the fan-favourite Mateusz Gamrot.
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On ESPN MMA's DC & RC show, Daniel Cormier lauded Beneil Dariush for taking on all challengers irrespective of their ranking. He praised Dariush for his impressive win over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280 last month. 'DC' further noted that Dariush was considered a potential backup fighter for the Islam Makhachev-Charles Oliveira UFC lightweight title fight at UFC 280. Cormier said:
"For Dustin Poirier, I'd like to see him vs. Beneil Dariush. Beneil Dariush has earned his opportunity to fight the best in the world or at least the most recognizable. If there's anyone that's earned that chance, it's Beneil."
Watch Cormier's assessment at 33:30 in the video below: