UFC 242: Nurmagomedov vs. Poirier fight recap

Khabib Nurmagomedov (middle) and his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov (right). Photograph: Wiki The Commons

On Saturday, Khabib ‘The Eagle” Nurmagomedov defeated Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier to defend his UFC lightweight title for the second time in less than a year, moving his record to 28-0.

Round 1 Khabib immediately pressed Poirier against the cage and took him down. They went on to spend the rest of the round there with  Nurmagomedov on top where he was able to hit the challenger with a variety of punches and elbows.

Round 2 was more of the same. Poirier did have a moment on the feet at the start of the round where it looked like he may have rocked Nurmagomedov, which caused him to backpedal for a moment. After regaining his wits, Khabib quickly got Poirier up against the cage and secured the takedown. Where he then tried to finish the fight with ground and pound and neck cranks.

Round 3 started off even on the feet until The Eagle pressured The Diamond up against the cage. Poirier secured a guillotine choke that appeared close. However, Nurmagomedov executed the proper defense and ended up on top of Dustin once more. Soon after, the lightweight champion took the back of Poirier and secured the rear-naked choke for a submission victory and a third-round stoppage.

Immediately after the fight, Khabib and Poirier exchanged their Reebok jerseys. In Nurmagomedovs post-fight interview, he stated that he plans to sell Poiriers Jersey on his own website and donate all of the money made to Poiriers charity/foundation that helps people people who are less fortunate.

That offer was then matched by Dana White where White said in the post-fight press conference that he will match whatever number Khabib donates to Poirier’s foundation. 

Fast forward a few months to December, 2019 and there is new excitement to come for both of these fighters. Nurmagomedov is slated to fight against his bitter adversary, Tony Ferguson and Poirier has hinted at challenging for the 145 pound belt.

Khabib and Tony have been scheduled to fight on more than 3 occasions with one of the two fighters pulling out due to injury each time. UFC president Dana White has been on record saying that he would never make this fight again. But the day is here.

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson are scheduled to headline the Pay Per View on April 18, 2020 at the Barclays Center in New York for UFC 249.

Following Max Holloways recent defeat against Alexander “the great” Volkanovski, there is new excitement at the top of the UFCs featherweight division.

Dustin Poirier, has two victories over previous featherweight champ, Max Holloway. One at 155 and one at 145 pounds. Additionally, Poirier is a former featherweight fighter coming off a title fight loss in the lightweight division.

Following Holloways loss, Poirier tweeted at the possibility of him dropping back down to featherweight to challenge for the 145 pound belt.

This would be an interesting matchup for the new champ, Volkanovski as he would be taking another giant leap up in competition in Dustin “the diamond” Poirier.

Nothing has been confirmed at this time regarding that bout but keep an eye out for Poiriers next move as he doesn’t have many options left at 155 pounds.

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