Dustin Poirier is the victor after five-round war with Dan Hooker
Since putting on events behind locked doors due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC has seen some true Fight of the Year candidates.
Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker could be the best one yet.
The pace put on by these two exciting lightweights was something to behold.
Hooker looked like he edged the first two rounds as Poirier was forced to weather the storm thrown his way from a Kiwi who has serious arsenal of strikes.
That’s not to say Poirier was ever at the point of being dominated, though. While Hooker landed the more dynamic shots, including hooks to the body and up top, knees and kicks, Poirier would fire back with body kicks and straight punches through the middle.
And it’s those punches and their accuracy which mounted up for Poirier and eventually wore “The Hangman” down. In fact, the Louisianan incredibly landed 76% of his strikes throughout the fight.
The latter three rounds saw Hooker seek the takedown and he was successful in a lot of his attempts to take the fight down, but Poirier was always on hand to either throw a submission attempt, defend well or scramble back to his feet to dole out more punishment.
Poirier was the fresher man come the end of the fight and it’s beyond comprehension how Hooker continued to battle on without ever relenting in trying to turn the fight in his favour despite the shots being sent his way.
That was all in vain as the judges’ scorecards were read out. Two scored the fight 48-47 for Poirier, while a third saw it 48-46 also for “The Diamond.”
Spectacular fight and a tremendous performance from Poirier, who we haven’t seen compete since being submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in September of last year.
Mike Perry is back in the win column with decision over Mickey Gall
Mike Perry proved he didn’t need his full allocation of cornermen at the UFC Apex on Saturday night.
With his girlfriend by his side, Perry snapped his two-fight losing skid against Mickey Gall in the night’s co-main event.
Gall started the fight well and his rangy punching showed new wrinkles in his ever-evolving striking game. New Jersey’s Gall landed some nice jabs and looked to score with hooks on the exit as “Platinum” closed the distance on his taller opponent.
But Perry took over from the second round and displayed how well-rounded his MMA skills are against a talented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
The Floridian found success while standing, knocking Gall down late in round two with a looping overhand which clipped the back of his head, but it was his grappling which secured the win.
Perry displayed good ground fundamentals and positional awareness to secure top position in each of the three rounds. And while he was never seeking a submission to stop the fight early, he more than made up for that by dishing out violent ground and pound when able to do so.
Gall’s early success counted for nothing in the end as Perry’s pace wore on him in the last two thirds of this 15-minute fight.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in Perry’s favour.
UFC on ESPN: Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker full results
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier def. Dan Hooker by unanimous decision after five rounds
Welterweight: Mike Perry def. Mickey Gall by unanimous decision after three rounds
Heavyweight: Maurice Greene def. Gian Villante by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:44 of round three
Middleweight: Brendan Allen def. Kyle Daukaus by unanimous decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Takashi Sato def. Jason Witt by TKO (punches) at 0:48 of round one
Catchweight (150 lbs): Julian Erosa def. Sean Woodson by submission (D’Arce choke) at 2:44 of round three
Lightweight: Khama Worthy def. Luis Peña by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:53 of round three
Heavyweight: Tanner Boser def. Philipe Lins by KO (punches) at 2:41 of round one
Women’s Strawweight: Kay Hansen def. Jinh Yu Frey by submission (armbar) at 2:26 of round three
Featherweight: Youssef Zalal def. Jordan Griffin by unanimous decision after three rounds