It’s a strange feeling when the man who just lost his third and probably last shot at a UFC title walks away at the end of the night looking like a hero. Strange, but not unpleasant.
The permanent record will show that Dustin Poirier lost via fifth-round submission to 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev on June 1, 2024. It will also show that this was Poirier’s third loss in the last five fights, which doesn’t seem great. But there is so much you miss if you only rely on the facts and figures. In the case of the UFC 302 main event – and perhaps even in the case of Poirier’s entire career – you’re missing the things that make people watch professional fights in the first place.
In a world based solely on pure skill, Poirier probably should never have heard the words “Round 5” against Makhachev. The champion was faster, stronger and worlds better on the mat. If you had walked in midway through the first round and seen him stick to Poirier’s back two minutes later after easily completing his first takedown, you probably would have assumed it would be a fast night. That’s a classic miscalculation that doesn’t take into account that dog, like the one Poirier has in him.
The way Poirier came from that grim first round to a competitive and bloody final round wasn’t pure strength, although that wasn’t the case either. not nor does toughness. A lot of them were things that you can only acquire the hard way, by spending a lifetime on the business side of all those links.
As this fight progressed, you saw Poirier figure out how to fight Makhachev. He stayed (mostly) outside the fence. He stopped the takedowns (again, for the most part). When he was knocked down, he was able to get back up. He dragged Makhachev through the crowded crucible that comes with martial arts mixing, then found openings for attacks through the fog of fatigue.
It wasn’t enough. Makhachev also has a lot of that same toughness up his sleeve. He also has a wrestling and submission game that can be activated as an autopilot when he needs it most. His final elimination was a thing of beauty, and to add a cruel irony to it, he immediately switched to the guillotine choke – the siren’s song that Poirier had managed to resist this time – and used it to switch to the battle ending D’arce. suffocate.
Of course it had to end like this. So close but so far. The story of Poirier’s career, in a way. But his story is just as much about finding victory even in the midst of failure. Poirier has not become popular in this sport by constantly winning. He did it by giving every last ounce of himself, in a way that felt raw, real and completely genuine. He was never afraid to try and fail and then try and fail again.
That’s the stuff that sticks with people – and much longer than the numbers in the official record.
A few other thoughts on UFC 302…
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Sean Strickland had another Sean Strickland fight. That is to say, he promised us a ‘bloodbath’ and then carefully pointed the way to a split-decision victory over Paulo Costa in the co-main event. You can’t blame him too much. We should know what to expect by now. He has a certain style, and it usually works. It’s just not that fun, which is why he probably has to keep promising carnage to keep our attention.
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It’s hard to complain about an early stoppage when you’re limited to one functioning arm. That was the predicament Michal Oleksiejczuk found himself in after being weaponized by Kevin Holland until his elbow bent in a direction it wasn’t supposed to go. Oleksiejczuk wasn’t happy with Herb Dean’s decision to call it off, but he also seemed completely unable to use the arm during his post-fight complaints. If you gesture indignantly with one arm while the other hangs at your side like an empty sleeve, that’s a pretty good sign that the referee was right.
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Why not make Jailton Almeida’s wish come true and send him to Paris to fight Ciryl Gane? It’s the best idea I’ve heard for either of them, and it came from Almeida’s lips moments after he blasted through an overmatched Alexander Romanov with ease. I can’t think of a better way to find out if Gane has tightened up his base game while also giving Almeida some work worthy of his abilities.
