Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez fought to a second-round no contest last year in a crazy fight, ending with Alvarez landing an illegal knee on his opponent.
The rematch, which took place last night in Calgary at UFC on FOX 30, was equally wild, but this time had a definitive, conclusive ending.
The pair fought a close first round, with Alvarez landing some nice punch combinations to the body and above, while Poirier scored from a distance.
But it was the second round which stole the headlines of this five-round contest.
As Alvarez shot for the takedown, Poirier grabbed a guillotine choke as the second stanza begun. However, Alvarez got out of his foe’s tight squeeze to advance position on the ground to apply a tight neck crank of his own.
This time, Poirier escaped. But Alvarez remained in a dominant position on the mat and rained blows down on Poirier… Until he landed another illegal blow – strangely around the same time in the same round as their previous fight – this time, a 12-6 elbow.
Referee Marc Goddard was forced to intervene, stripping Alvarez of his top position and resetting the fight on the feet.
Sensing his opportunity, Poirier threw caution to the wind and blasted Alvarez with a number of strikes which wobbled him. Smartly maneuvering away from Alvarez’s instinctive counter punches, Poirer poured on the punches and punctuated his flurry with an elbow to see the fight waved off in his favour.
It may not make a whole load of sense, but given how fun the first two fights were – and their controversies – no one would be mad at seeing a third fight booked between the pair. Poirier, however, is looking further afield, calling out Khabib Nurmagomedov for a UFC lightweight title fight.
See the full results and highlights of UFC on FOX Calgary here.
