Dustin Poirier came out victorious against Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299 by securing a second-round knockout against the Frenchman, and was ultimately hailed as a legend by Dana White.
UFC CEO Dana White Praises Dustin Poirier for UFC 299 Showing
The result has changed the complexion of the lightweight division, and Dana White heaped praise on The Diamond for his performance.
In the post-fight press conference, White said: “The fight that he took tonight with Benoit (Saint Denis), when the talk first started, everybody was like, ‘Oh, this is a bad fight for (Dustin) Poirier, blah, blah, blah.’ Then Poirier came out and said ‘You know what, I didn’t sign’ and all this [other stuff].
“This is the sh*t that makes you a f*cking legend. These are legendary fights. Poirier, again like I just said, his stock again goes through the roof. At his age, all the things he’s accomplished, all the things he’s done, look at what he did tonight.”
Fight of The Night
The co-main event lived up to expectations, with Poirier and Saint Denis receiving fight of the night bonuses for helping to do so.
‘The God of War’ was racing toward the top of the lightweight rankings before facing Poirier. On a five-fight win streak, all coming by stoppage, doubt crept into every fan’s mind about this matchup for the UFC veteran.
Prior to Saturday, Poirier stated that he took the tough matchup against Saint Denis because he wanted to test himself and found that he fights best against hungry opponents.
Although the former interim lightweight champion hinted at retirement before the fight, Poirier is not hanging up the gloves just yet, as he was asked what was next for him during the post-fight press conference.
He said: “I don’t know. The lightweight division has been so murky and not a clear path to anything for anybody, and now it’s even more so with Max (Holloway) coming up, let’s say he does beat (Justin) Gaethje. Does he stay at 155, you know, what’s happening? I don’t know.
“I don’t know what’s next for me, what opponent makes sense, who’s available? There’s a lot of questions”
Now at the age of 35 years old, the 30-fight veteran could use this statement win as a catalyst for one last run at the title.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
