Former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier won his first fight since his last loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“The Diamond” defeated Dan Hoker in UFC on ESPN 12’s main event via UD. The lightweight clash produced great highlights and both guys deserved to get the W, but the American showcased the better defense.
Even though he was on the winning end, Poirier said that there are some things he needs to redo in his next training camp.
“It was a tough one, man,” Poirier told the UFC after the fight. “Dan came to fight. He’s a tough guy. He’s on the rise and really thought he was going to get passed me. He talked a lot of trash, like, he was going to move forward and fight the champ — but I’m the champ. This is what I love to do. I put all the work in. I trust in my team, skill, and work ethic. I came here, pulled another one out, and had a few more rounds in me.”
“I could have been a little bit sharper,” Poirier said. “I didn’t move out of the way of a few shots. It’s not that I disrespected Dan’s power, but I stayed in the pocket for too long. I should have been sharper. In the end, I started getting in my range and countering off his lazy shots. I landed some good ones and made his head snap back. I was stealing the rounds with shots like that, but I can do better.”
“Maybe I’ll fight at the end of the year,” Poirier said. “Maybe I’ll fight next year. I just want to go home to my daughter. I’m a winner and it was a long time off. It was the longest break of my career. I had to take nine months off and sit on the sidelines. I had to overcome some stuff.
“Now that I’m a victor again, I want to get back to the drawing board. I want to keep getting better. I want to stay in love with this sport. I don’t want to push myself so much to where I hate this. I’ve been doing this a long time and pushing myself to the limits every day. So I just want to do it right.”
