Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje waged all-out war on each other in the instant classic main event of UFC On FOX 29 tonight that eventually led to ‘The Diamond’ emerging with a fourth round TKO victory.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway in Arizona!
Poirier pumping out the jab as Gaethje starts with leg kicks. Quick hands from Poirier. left hook for Gaethje. Now another inside leg kick.
Poirier tries for an uppercut. Leg kick for Gaethje. Punches for Poirier. Right hand for Gaethje. Now a leg kick, but he’s sporting a little cut to his left eye.
Inside leg kick knocks Poirier off-balance a little. Short right for Poirier. Right hook grazes Poirier. Punches and then a kick from Poirier.
Gaethje with a jab. Now a nice right hand. Poirier with punches and a kick attempt thats blocked. Geathje lands a big punch that gets Poirier’s attention. Another flurry from Poirier that bounces off Gaethje’s cguard.
A couple of right hands from Poirier. High tempo from Poirier. Big body strike from Poirier. Poirier clips Gaethje with a right hook after his opponet stumbles.
Leg kick for POirier. Gaethje lands a left and then a hard right behind it. inside leg kick again for Geathje. Body kick for Poirier and then a left hook.
Nice right hooks from Poirier. Uppercut from Gaethje. Leg kick from Gaethje. Another leg kick. He catches Poirier with a good left hook.
Extremely high tempo round there and both fighters ate some solid shots along the way.
Round Two:
Jab for Poirier. Nice short flurry from Gaethje. In again and this time Poirier blocks a couple of blows. Right hand gets through for Gaethje. Now an inside leg kick.
Gaethje connects with the jab. Poirier fakes a takedown attempt then fires off punches, but then Gaethje lands an eyepoke and leg kick at the same time, which forces a brief stoppage.
Poirier not too happy about his eye, but gets back to it anyway. Good combo from Poirier. Gaethje with a couple of body kicks.
Good right hook from Gaethje. Poirier trading in close and Gaethje responds. Left hook from Gaethje only just misse Poirier.
Nice uppercut from Poirier after Geathje misses with his own. Body kick from Poirier. Hard leg kick for Gaethje. Good right hands for Poirier and then a left lands hard too.
Poirier putting a lot of pressure on his opponent here. He tries for a takedown, but can’t land it. Light right hands for Poirier and then a couple of harder ones dig in.
a couple of winging overhand for Gaethje miss. They look to exchange and Geathje lands a hard punch. Poirier with another sharp flurry.
Poirier with an overhand right. leg kick for him. Nice straight left. leg kick for Gaethje. Poirier tries for a single leg, but it fails. In the clinch Poirier lands a hard punch and then Gaethje blasts him with a big elbow.
Final seconds of the round and Gaethje is stepping it up and launches into a summersault kick that partially lands and Poirier looks a bit winded after the round ends and is slow back to his corner, while also sporting some blood to his left eye.
ROund Three:
The two fighters exchange leg kicks to start. Poirier catches one, but Gaethje rolls away. left hands exchanged. Poirier with a leg kick and a jab.
Poirier in on a takedown attempt and gets it, but Gaethje is instantly back up. Nice body punch for Poirier. Inside leg kick for Gaethje.
Gaethje marching forward winging a few strikes and those looked a bit labored. Hard leg kick for Gaethje. Now a punch seems to have Poirier hurt and he backs up looking a little unsure of himself.
Gaethje continuing to pressure Poirier and moves into the clinch against the cage. Such a gruelling, high-intensity fight so far. This is a bit of a breather for both men though.
They are soon back to striking range with two minutes of the round remaining and Gaethje is leading the action for now. Poirier with a few punches and a kick, but not as quick and sharp as earlier in the fight. Gaethje with a leg kick and Poirier is flinching with these now.
Terrific heart from both fighters here. Poirier still chipping away with strikes. Gaethje works back into the clinch.
The two fighters exchange jabs and unfortunately Gaethje’s fingers are extended and it leads to another eyepoke. This time the ref says Gaethje has had enough warnings and takes a point away from him.
The doctor checks on Poirier’s eye and then the fight is allowed to continue. There’s not much time left in the round but they go back to it and Gaethje seems to be complaining about an eyepoke on him in the final exchange, but there’s no stoppage here.
Round Four:
Gaethje with a body punch. Inside leg kick for Gaethje, but Poirier lands a huge left hand and Gaethje is rocked and wobbled by that. He keeps on his feet, but as Poirier continues on the attack Gaethje is struggling to keep his legs under him and is reeling across the Octagon.
Poirier’s attack doesn’t let up and Gaethje flops against the cage. He’s badly hurt here and the ref mercifully steps in to end the fight before he takes even more damage, handing Poirier a TKO victory in what was certainly one of the best fights of 2018 so far.
