MIAMI – Dana White had high praise towards Dustin Poirier after UFC 299.
Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) knocked out surging lightweight contender Benoit Saint Denis (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at Kaseya Center.
Many were surprised to see former interim champion Poirier accepting a fight against lower-ranked Saint Denis, which is why White respects “The Diamond” that much more.
“The fight that he took tonight with Benoit, I mean, when the talk first started, everybody was like, ‘Oh, this is a bad fight for Poirier,'” White said during the UFC 299 post-fight news conference. “Then Poirier came out and said, ‘You know what, I didn’t sign’ and all this – this is the sh*t that makes you a f*cking legend. These are legendary fights – when you go in and face a guy who’s a savage and looks like you can’t win this fight or people think you can’t win this fight, and then you go in and do it in spectacular fashion the way that he did tonight.
“A lot of these fighters, you’ve heard it many times in the past, ‘They want me to lose,’ or ‘They’re trying to make me lose.’ I heard some nutty sh*t the other day from somebody that I won’t even mention, but we don’t determine whether you lose or whether you win – you do. What we try to do is put on the best match-made fights that we can possibly do. That’s why big stars are built in the UFC and legendary fights happen every weekend. … His stock again goes through the roof.”
With the win, Poirier may have positioned himself for another title shot. UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz told Poirier prior to the fight that he could be next with a win, and Makhachev and Poirier are both on board.
Do we have a UFC lightweight title fight for June? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ms9bHMQu6u
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 11, 2024
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.
