Dustin Poirier Reveals Serious Injuries From UFC 302

Dustin Poirier put up a valiant effort in his fifth-round submission loss Saturday to Islam Makhachev at the UFC 302 event which took place inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The UFC lightweight title fight was a grueling one for both fighters, as they exchanged blows so powerful they left the arena bruised, battered, and, in Poirier’s case, at least, broken.

Poirier Suffered Bone Breaks And a Torn ACL

Putting up such a good fight against Makhachev came at a cost for Poirier

The Makhachev fight was the 40th of Poirier’s career, but defeat saw his pro MMA record fall to 30 wins (15 knockouts, eight submissions, and seven decisions) against nine losses. It is unclear yet what kind of impact Saturday’s loss will have on Poirier, as though he mentioned retirement, he did not commit to removing his gloves and placing them on the canvas, before leaving the Octagon forever.

Just days later, Poirier posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, to give an indication how tough the Makhachev fight was — and how much heart he possesses having to compete with so many injuries all at once.

Even Makhachev, who is a ruthless ruler atop the 155-pound division, did not escape unharmed from the Poirier fight. At the finish, after he’d secured his submission win, he threw his hands up in the air and, in the photograph below, it’s clear to see how bad the gash is on his forehead — the one Poirier opened up with a nasty elbow strike.

“Another W in the books,” Makhachev said on X, having advanced his pro MMA record to 26 wins (five knockouts, 12 submissions, and nine decisions) against just one defeat. “See you guys on [the] next one.”

Dana White Reacts to Islam Makhachev’s win

The UFC boss says Dagestan fighter is yet to top the pound-for-pound charts

Despite the gauntlet Makhachev has run of late, swatting aside challenges from the likes of Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski (twice), and Poirier, UFC boss Dana White refused at the post-event press conference to acknowledge him as the pound-for-pound No.1 in the UFC roster. That honor, White said, still belongs to Jon Jones despite his lack of activity and one win — against Ciryl Gane — in over four years.

He continued: “For anyone to call Islam pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world when Jon Jones is still fighting is nuts.

“He’s fought all the baddest dudes in the world, and then when you think about what pound-for-pound rankings really mean — he moved up to heavyweight and destroyed the best guy in the world. As long as Jon Jones is still fighting, active and in the rankings, nobody [else] is pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world.”