They were who we thought they were.
It wasn't much of a surprise, but Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje put on a fight of the night performance during Saturday's UFC Glendale show. Poirier was able to chip away at the gritty Gaethje and overcome a series of low calf kicks to gain the fourth round stoppage.
You can see an excerpt of our live coverage below:
Round Three: The round begins with Gaethje attacking Poirier with some leg kicks, Poirier starts popping Gaethje with some lefts. Gaethje charges at Poirier while throwing strikes, Poirier scores a takedown and Gaethje gets right back up. Poirier starts attacking the midsection of Gaethje with punches, Gaethje rocks a winging Poirier witha counter right hook. Poirier gets defensive and he swings away at an approaching Gaethje, Gaethje gets Poirier against the cage wall while landing knee strikes. The fighters separate and they just swing away at each other, Gaethje continues attacking Poirier with leg kicks. Poirier nails Gaethje with a standing elbow strike to the head, Gaethje accidentally pokes Poirier in the eye and the fight is halted. The referee decides to take a point from Gaethje for the eye poke, the action resumes with the fighters jabbing away at each other as the round ends.
Fightful scores the round 9-9 for Gaethje (Overall Score: 28-28 for Draw)
Round Four: The round begins with Gaethje attacking Poirier with a two punch combination, Poirier rocks a swinging Gaethje with a counter left. Poirier absolutely destroys Gaethje with a plethora of strikes until Gaethje goes down and the referee stops the fight.
Official Result: #5 Dustin Poirier def. #6 Justin Gaethje
Following the war, Poirier took to the microphone and pleaded with UFC President Dana White, matchmaker Sean Shelby and UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for a championship opportunity. With Conor McGregor battling legal issues and Tony Ferguson dealing with a knee injury, the #5-ranked Poirier could be in prime position for the spot.
At the post-fight press conference, Poirier's opponent Gaethje noted that he thinks he only has five fights left in the sport.
You can see Fightful's post-show podcast at this link.
