Dustin Poirier was able to get the better of Jim Miller on the scorecards tonight at UFC 208, claiming a majority decision victory after a hard-hitting battle that left him struggling to stand in the final round.
Round One:
Miller pumping out the jab to begin round one. Poirier with a leg kick. Another solid leg kick for Poirier.
Miller with a solid punch to the body. Now he lands a hook and follows it up with a hook. Poirier starts to work a few straight punches down the pipe now. Another leg kick in there too.
Body punch for Poirier as Miller lands a leg kick. Now Miller trying upstairs with a kick. Miller tries for the takedown, but Poirier stuffs it and walks him over to the cage.
Poirier unloads with some solid shots as Miller gets his back off the cage and moves away.
Miller targeting the body with a punch. Leg kick for Poirier, but Miller partially catches it and lands a punch to the face.
Miller’s turn to back up Poirier to the cage and lands a few punches. Poirier lands a jab and gets away.
Solid straight punch for Poirier. He catches a leg kick from Miller and dumps him to the mat with it. Miller up and immediately returns the favor by taking Poirier down and takes his back.
Poirier stays calm and is able to defend a possible rear-naked choke and then turn in on Miller to get on top.
He’s not able to keep Miller down though and as they get back upright Poirier wades forward with heavy leather. Miller returns fire though and connects with a hard punch. Undeterred Poirier continues to unleash and they both spend the final seconds of the round slugging it out toe-to-toe.
Round Two:
Poirier working his jab. Nice uppercuts for Miller in close. He lands a leg kick that knocks Poirier off-balance.
Both men eager to exchange and Miller is doing quite well so far against the younger man. However, Poirier starts to tee off on Miller as he’s backed up to the cage. Miller staggers a little and then tries for a takedown that’s stuffed.
Poirier backing Miller up again with more heavy leather and his opponent is starting to slow down a bit and isn’t as offensive as he was earlier. He’s landing the occasional shot, but there’s much more volume and power from Poirier.
Miller hanging tough, but as blows continue to land he has to try for a takedown to change things up. Poirier denies that though and when he gets free he decides to take Miller down.
It’s not long before Poirier decides to just stand back up and make Miller fight him on the feet. Poirier cracks Miller’s already bloodied face with more hard left and rights. Miller still landing the occasional solid counter though, so ‘The Diamond’ has to be mindful of his defense as he goes on the attack.
Round Three:
Miller with the jab. Kick for Poirier, but Miller counters with a couple of punches. Hard uppercut for Miller now – that snapped his opponent’s head back.
Good leg kick for Miller and then does so again. Jab for Poirier. Another leg kick lands for Miller and Poirier stumbles to the mat from it, but gets back up. His leg’s bothering him though.
Miller’s corner are yelling at him that Poirier’s leg is done and he starts attacking it again. Poirier really having to tough it out here and he wisely opts to change up the script by catching another kick from Miller and using it to take him down.
Miller trying to get back up, but Poirier is eager to keep him on his back. Miller thinks about a guillotine choke, then throws his legs up looking for another possible submission.
Nothing doing for now though and so he starts working to get himself back up, using the cage to stand and immediately burst into a takedown attempt of his own.
Miller working hard here, but Poirier manages to take him down instead. Miller trying for a kimura and throws his leg up to get more leverage.
Poirier able to break free from that and lands some solid ground and pound as the round comes to a close – we’re headed to the scorecards to decide this one.
Decision:
Poirier unable to stand properly after the fight and gets helped onto a stool. A close up shows his right shin has a huge contusion on it. Miller limping around the Octagon too – that was a tough fight for both men!
Lengthy wait for the scorecards, but finally it comes and though one judge thought it was a draw, two others give Poirier the nod for a majority decision victory (28-28, 30-27, 29-28).
