Dustin Poirier made a stunning revelation about his lightweight title clash against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302, highlighting the remarkable toughness and resilience of ‘The Diamond’. The fight was Poirier’s third attempt at the undisputed lightweight crown after having lost in his previous attempts against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira at UFC 242 and UFC 269, respectively.
While he put in an impressive performance and even left the Dagestani champion bloodied, ultimately, Poirier got caught in a D’arce choke in the fifth round and had to tap out. But at the post-fight press conference, the Louisiana native revealed that he persevered through what could be a serious injury to his knee!
Dustin Poirier reveals he “messed up” his knee at UFC 302
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During the post-fight press conference, Dustin Poirier revealed that, “I might have messed my ACL up against the fence in the 3rd or 4th round, before I hit him with the switch, I don’t remember what round that was.”
He further went on to describe the sensation in gruesome detail as he stated that, “My knee bone and my shin bone, I felt a slide, and then it started burning”. The knee injury added a layer of complexity to an already challenging fight. Despite the pain, he continued to compete, not fully aware of the extent of the damage.
He also mentioned discussing the issue with his coach through the fence. “I was telling Mike that through the fence,” Poirier noted, adding that his coach initially misunderstood the complaint, thinking it was about something else.
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The severity of the injury wasn’t immediately apparent to Poirier during the fight. “It didn’t bother me getting off the stool and stuff,” he explained, though he admitted that it did hurt. This injury, coupled with the high stakes of the match, might have played a role in Poirier’s performance against Makhachev but it’s a testament to his toughness that he performed the way he did despite essentially working with a compromised limb.
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‘The Diamond’ also stated in the interview that he will “…get that checked out” and the injury will likely play a crucial role in his decision-making process regarding his future in the sport as he indicated in his post-fight interview that retirement might be on the horizon for him!
(Stay tuned for more)
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