Outside Source
Poirier and Holloway traded shots for five rounds. | Getty/UFC
Dustin Poirier thought his trilogy fight with Max Holloway was a lot closer than the final scorecards indicated.
In what was Poirier’s farewell, “The Diamond” and Holloway traded blows for the better part of five rounds in the UFC 318 headliner at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. When all was said and done, Holloway emerged with a unanimous decision triumph to earn his first win in three tries against Poirier. Judge Derek Cleary saw it 48-47, while Eric Colon and Sal D’Amato scored it 49-46 — all in favor of the Hawaiian standout.
“Obviously, I wanted to win. Max is a great fighter, a tough competitor. I just being inside the eye of the storm, it felt a lot closer to me,” Poirier said at the UFC 318 post-fight press conference. “I really thought it might have been 2-2 going into the fifth [round]. Mike Brown checked the scorecards when we got to the locker room and I think the judges gave me different rounds.
“I think all the judges gave him the second round. I thought I almost had him out. He hurt me, too, but I thought my shot when I followed up with elbows, I was cracking him. He told me in the medical tent, ‘Hey man, you had me out.’ We couldn’t hear the bell. Being in the fight, it felt a lot closer than that. When I heard the judges’ [scores], I was like no way. It was closer than that. Like the man says, it is what it is.”
All 21 media scorecards tracked by MMADecisions.com awarded the fight to Holloway, with tallies ranging from 50-45 to 48-47. Meanwhile, Holloway outlanded Poirier by a 198-to-109 count in significant strikes. “Blessed” outlanded his foe in every stanza, including Round 2, when Poirier scored a knockdown late in the period.
Poirier: I Thought It Was Close
“Going into the fifth, I thought it was close,” Poirier said. “I thought it might have been 2-2, so winning the fifth, I could have put myself into harm’s way a little bit more. Maybe I would have got finished. Maybe I would have finished him. I could have took more chances in the fifth but up to that point, I was playing [smart]. I was trying to fight like a professional. Be smart.
“It seemed like he was waiting to counter me with his right hand every time I would come in, but the crazy thing is he never threw it but it felt like his footwork and his movement was ready to throw that right hand. So I didn’t want to take too many risks getting countered. I didn’t want to miss and get countered. He had already hurt me in the second round. I fought and I thought I was doing well. I thought it was close rounds every time. Looking back, hindsight’s always 20/20, but I thought I fought smart and I tried to win. I really did.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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