Dustin Poirier Sends Message To Justin Gaethje After Head Kick Knockout At UFC 29, Says “Incredible Justin Gaethje Beautiful Set Up,”

By Jordan Ellis, TalkSPORT

‘The Diamond’ was hoping to capture Jorge Masvidal’s old BMF [Baddest Motherf*****] belt at UFC 291, but he ended up getting knocked out cold by Justin Gaethje.

Poirier, who stopped Gaethje when they fought in 2018, landed some eye-catching punches and ate a series of nasty leg kicks during an intense first round in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.

In round two, ‘The Highlight’ launched a kick upstairs that slept Poirier and secured him a lightweight title shot.

Gaethje shook hands with his long-time rival when he regained consciousness before talking up a potential clash with the winner of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira who rematch at UFC 294 on October.

Poirier soon took to social media to send a congratulatory message about the kick that immediately drew comparisons to the one Leon Edwards stopped Kamaru Usman with 11 months ago.

“Incredible Justin Gaethje beautiful set up,” he tweeted.

The 34-year-old explained how he approaches suffering a loss during a post-fight chat with assembled media members after his eighth career defeat.

“If I win like a man, I’ve got to be able to lose like a man,” Poirier said.

“I still feel great. Dude, I just got hit with a shot I didn’t see.

“Naturally, I had one hand up from years of trainng, but the foot got around go

“I just did a nine-week camp in South Florida, pushed myself every day, and had the easiest weight cut of my life.

“I busted my a***, that’s why losing sucks because you do all this work and nothing is guaranteed.”

The former interim lightweight champion refused to clarify anything regarding his fighting future and revealed he plans to go on a family holiday before getting in touch with the UFC about his next move.

Poirier remains one of the top-ranked contenders at 155lbs and is still just one or two big wins away from earning a third crack at undisputed UFC gold.