The UFC 168 PPV card started out with a Featherweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Diego Brandao. Brandao looked to turn the fight into a brawl while trying to force the ground game. Unfortunately for him, Poirier was up to the challenge and scored the TKO in the closing seconds of the first round.
Diego got off early with an overhand right that caught Poirier off balance. As he was coming up, Brandao followed up with an illegal kick that got little notice from referee Mario Yamasaki. Poirier worked to keep Brandao back with long straight punches. Takedown attempt from Brandao was held off by Poirier with a whizzer. Another takedown from Brandao, but he couldn’t hold Dustin down. Poirier let loose with strikes with Brandao’s back against the cage. He hurt Brandao with a brutal flurry. It took a minute, but once on the ground Poirier forced the ref to make the stop in the closing seconds.
Dustin Poirier TKOs Diego Brandao at 4:54 of round 1.