In the main event of last night’s UFC on ESPN 12, Dustin Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) defeated Dan Hooker (20-9 MMA, 10-5 UFC). The American fighter won after a unanimous decision of the judges who scored 48-46, 48-47 and 48-47 in his favor.
According to the reactions of the experts and on the social networks, this was one of the best fights recently, with both Poirier and Hooker giving their best. The two guys were aggressive throughout the entire contest, and as a result, we saw 380 total strikes – the highest in the UFC lightweight history.
PAID IN FULL. 💎 #UFCVegas4 pic.twitter.com/17drtrbdOB
— UFC (@ufc) June 28, 2020
The fight started with Hooker pressuring the rival, and executing several combinations which did hurt Poirier. The first and the second round were entirely his, and the judges all scored in his favor those two parts of the event.
But after needing some time to find his mojo, the former interim titleholder from the USA started catching the swing, forcing Hooker to retreat on several situations in the third. In the next two rounds, Poirier used his experience to restrain Hooker’s bursts and surges, while calmly inflicting a lot of damage to the fighter from New Zealand.
Though, there were times when Hooker showed his will and stubbornness attacking and managing to cause problems.
The final 15 seconds of the second round were INSANE! 🤯
Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker having an all-out war! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nZUQLp61LM
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) June 28, 2020
For him, this was the first loss after three victories against pretty respective names – James Vick, Al Iaquinta, and Paul Felder. However, nobody sees this as a step back in his career. The excellent performance and the show he put against Poirier would for sure reserve him the spot in another great fight pretty soon.
As for the “Diamond,” he is back following the loss to Khabib in September last year. It seems that the surgery he had didn’t leave any trace and that Poirier’s condition is near the highest possible level. One more win against a big name from this division, and we might expect him once again in a title fight.
He has enough time for that because of a fight between Khabib and Gaethje (whom Poirier defeated earlier). These two have to sort out who is the lightweigh champion, and after they do that, Poirier could hope to attack the belt one more time.
