Dustin Poirier has been involved in some of the craziest wars in UFC history, and his UFC 211 meeting against Eddie Alvarez was no different.
On July 19, Dustin Poirier will emotionally make his final walk to the Octagon when he takes on Max Holloway for the BMF title in the UFC 318 main event.
Ahead of his last dance, Poirier has been credited by UFC boss Dana White who labeled him as an ‘all-time great’ and admitted that he created the event just for ‘The Diamond’.
The last time Poirier competed in front of his hometown fans, he ran through another Hawaiian, and he will be hoping history will repeat itself come July 19.
Throughout his incredible career, Poirier has had some crazy rivalries against the likes of Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor, and more. But one that stands out to a lot of fans, is his rivalry against Eddie Alvarez.
Dustin Poirier’s first war against Eddie Alvarez came to a controversial end
After rebounding from his loss against Michael Johnson with a close win over Jim Miller, ‘The Diamond’ was matched up against ‘The Underground King’ Alvarez, who was coming off the back of his title loss to McGregor.
Immediately fans highlighted this matchup as a potential fight for the ages as both Alvarez and Poirier were known for their impenetrable fight styles.
And soon after the fight began, the fans in attendance at UFC 211 in the American Airlines Center realized they were in for a treat as the two lightweights began throwing down almost instantly.
‘The Diamond’ had a lot of early success with his body kicks from the southpaw stance, as Alvarez looked to land the big KO counter punches.
At the beginning of round two, Alvarez looked to attempt to get his wrestling going but he was stuffed by Poirier who continued to get the better of the striking exchanges.
Midway through round two, Poirier wobbled the former champion with some huge shots but as Poirier began trying to find the KO punch, Alvarez clipped him with a counter which hurt ‘The Diamond’.
And then, with just under a minute left of the round, Alvarez landed two extremely hard knees to the head of Poirier while he was against the cage and deemed as a grounded opponent.
Herb Dean conversed with Octagon officials and the fight was ruled a no contest, despite Joe Rogan believing it should’ve been ruled a disqualification.
Dustin Poirier snatches mic from Joe Rogan to defend Alvarez from boos
With the fight having ended unceremoniously, Rogan stepped into the Octagon after the matter to interview both fighters, which is extremely rare.
“Look guys, I’m not a dirty fighter, we’re fist fighting in here, I’m doing the best I can, I apologise to Dustin and I apologize to the crowd,” Alvarez said as the crowd began to boo.
“Hey! Don’t boo this man, this guy is a champion and has fought all over the world, I have nothing but respect for this guy, don’t boo this man! This guy is a warrior, we both put it on the line every time we step in here,” Poirier said as he snatched the mic from Rogan.
Fortunately, fans were the beneficiaries of seeing this fight again as the two rematched just over a year later and they were once again involved in an incredible fight which Poirier went on to win.