Dustin Poirier Claims He’s Still Better Fighter Than Justin Gaethje Despite KO Loss

UFC lightweight star Dustin Poirier had a rough go of things on Saturday when he stepped into the cage with Justin Gaethje at UFC 291.

The two squared off for the (essentially fictional) BMF title five years after their first fight, a “fight of the night” showing which Poirier won via fourth-round TKO.

This time, however, things went a bit differently.

Gaethje and Poirier exchanged blows in the opening round with the scoring open to interpretation. But Gaethje took control to open the second round before landed a brutal head kick to put Poirier to sleep.

The win likely gives Gaethje his first career UFC title shot against the winner of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. Meanwhile, Poirier is left to regroup and figure out his next steps.

One of those next steps, however, appears to be saying that he’s still a better fighter than Gaethje despite the loss.

Poirier appeared on The MMA Hour on Monday and did just that.

“Khabib (Nurmagomedov) was better than me. I lost Saturday to somebody who I think I’m better than,” Poirier said. “I was away from home for nine weeks in training camp, I dieted 11 weeks, sacrificed so much, was really focused, man. was really, really focused and felt great, the best I’ve ever felt.”

The beauty of combat sports is that the best fighter doesn’t always win. Take Matt Serra’s massive upset of Georges St. Pierre for example.

But it’s tough to apply that rule here. Gaethje is no slouch and made impressive adjustments from the first fight.

Though it’s easy to understand why Poirier would feel so upset.

It’s also not the first time a fighter has been deferential to former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Gaethje did the exact same thing in the lead up to his fight with Poirier.

But now both feel the division is there’s for the taking. Whether either one takes it is yet to be seen.