#2 - Dustin Poirier vs Eddie Alvarez 2 - UFC on Fox
Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez met for the second time in 2018. Their first encounter ended in a No Contest after the former UFC lightweight champion landed an illegal knee on a downed Poirier. During their rematch, the first round was spent deciding which fighter would set the rhythm.
'The Diamond' and Alvarez were both sizing each other up until the last minute when they decided to pace things up. Alvarez landed 12 body shots while Poirier could only manage one. There were leg kicks, feint jabs and takedown attempts as well, but nothing too significant.
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The second round saw more striking exchanges between the two, with both fighters slipping out of extremely close guillotines and neck cranks. The fighters were broken up by referee Marc Goddard when Eddie Alvarez landed a 12-6 elbow on Dustin Poirier's shoulder.
With both fighters busted up and back on their feet, Dustin Poirier landed a big knee on Eddie Alvarez's body and followed up with boxing combinations. 'The Underground King' was visibly hurt. Poirier unleashed on Alvarez and landed at least 20 strikes, with the former UFC champ not holding back as well. After nearly 50 seconds of getting hammered, Alvarez lost via TKO.
#1 - Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje - UFC on Fox 29
Dustin Poirier faced one of the most lethal strikers in the UFC, Justin Gaethje, in 2018. The fighters put on a striking clinic for four rounds from the get-go. While Poirier started landing combinations from the very start, Gaethje absorbed many strikes while landing several hurtful leg-kicks.
However, while Justin Gaethje was not too far behind Dustin Poirier, he was the one who started bleeding from the very first round. Gaethje also started poking Poirier's eyes in the second. But 'The Diamond' braved all the storms and kept landing combinations, despite a swollen right knee and a right bleeding eye.
In the fourth round, Dustin Poirier took over and connected with big strikes, shaking up Justin Gaethje. As Gaethje started wobbling, 'The Diamond' started to press on with classic one-two combos until referee Herb Dean stepped in. Sharp and composed striking by Poirier made this perhaps the most devastating knockout of his career.
It was later revealed that Dustin Poirier was ahead on the scorecard before winning by knockout.
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