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UFC 264: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 3 was built as arguably 2021’s biggest UFC event and it certainly delivered the goods.
UFC 264 featured a shocking ending to its main event between superstars Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, as well as numerous other explosive finishes up and down the card.
With a number of fighters likely to become much bigger stars due to their performances last night, UFC 264 promises to be one of the most talked about cards in some time.
With that in mind, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC 264: Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 3.
#1 Dustin Poirier wins the trilogy with Conor McGregor and picks up UFC 264’s biggest win
UFC 264’s main event between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor was supposed to see the two rivals end their feud for good. While that might not have happened based on the end to the fight, there can be no disputing who the better man is at this point.
The fight didn’t end in as explosive a fashion as their second bout at UFC 257, which saw Poirier knock McGregor clean out. However, to see ‘The Notorious’ snap his ankle in devastating fashion in one of the worst UFC injuries of all time was still a jaw-dropping sight.
Essentially, after a fast start, McGregor began to get destroyed by Poirier. ‘The Diamond’ escaped a guillotine attempt and channelled his inner Khabib Nurmagomedov to bomb the Irishman from the top.
And when the fight ended up standing again, it was Poirier who clearly landed the heavier blows, catching McGregor with a combination that caused him to wobble backwards. In the process, the Irishman’s ankle snapped, he hit the ground, and while he survived the round, he couldn’t continue.
At first it didn’t look bad – but a replay confirmed it was essentially one of the most disgusting injuries in UFC history, and naturally it doesn’t get much more explosive than that.
McGregor will likely complain about the finish and demand a rematch with Poirier, but whether that happens is anyone’s guess right now as he’s likely to be on the shelf for a while. At any rate, this was Poirier’s biggest-ever UFC win.
#2 Tai Tuivasa knocks out Greg Hardy to become a UFC superstar
While Dustin Poirier undoubtedly had the biggest win at UFC 264, the man who turned himself into a genuine superstar last night was Tai Tuivasa.
‘Bam Bam’ put himself on the map before he even set foot in the octagon, as he bizarrely walked out to Wannabe by the Spice Girls, with practically the whole arena standing and dancing along with the Aussie.
But Tuivasa also had to deliver inside the octagon, and when it came down to it, he did. Wobbled by Hardy early on in the fight, it looked like ‘Bam Bam’ was in trouble, as his legs turned to rubber under the punching power of the former NFL star.
But as Hardy closed in to finish, he forgot the first rule of MMA – never assume your opponent is done. He left himself far too open, and Tuivasa countered with a clubbing left hand that knocked ‘The Prince of War’ silly.
Hardy went crashing down, Tuivasa pounced to finish, and moments later the Aussie was downing a beer from a shoe while the former NFL man wondered what’d hit him.
This was comfortably the best knockout on offer at UFC 264, and Tuivasa should not only make it into the UFC’s top 15 on Monday, but he should also be considered a potential star.
#3 Irene Aldana puts herself in line for a UFC title shot with her knockout of Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 264
There were no UFC titles on the line at UFC 264, but one fighter may well have captured herself a future title shot with her performance.
Irene Aldana was probably inches away from a shot at UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes last year when she fell to defeat at the hands of Holly Holm. But the nature of the division meant that coming into UFC 264, the Mexican knew that one impressive win would probably shunt her to the front of the queue.
And Aldana delivered, completely dominating ‘Foxy’ en route to an impressive first-round TKO win.
A big left hand dropped Kunitskaya badly, and while she attempted to recover, Aldana quickly pounced on her, pinned her down and blasted her with enough hard punches to force a justified stoppage.
Post-fight, Aldana seemed unsure of a future title shot – probably a consequence of her missing weight – but realistically, if Nunes deals with Julianna Pena in a few weeks, who else is there?
When you consider how tricky it is to earn a UFC title shot, it’s hard to play down how important this win was – and the fact that Aldana did it in explosive fashion makes it even better.
#4 Dricus du Plessis shows he’s a natural-born finisher
The UFC 264 preliminary bouts flew largely under the radar, but we did see a potentially star-making performance from South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis, who knocked out Trevin Giles in explosive fashion.
It was an interesting performance, as ‘Stillknocks’ showed off an excellent ground game in the first round to largely dominate Giles, who’d apparently bragged that he’d have a big advantage on the feet.
That idea was proven painfully wrong in the second round. When Giles made the error of coming forward with his hands low, du Plessis landed a crushing right hand that absolutely crumpled him. ‘Stillknocks’ followed up with some heavy shots, but it was clear that Giles was done.
Last night was probably the biggest possible spotlight for an up-and-coming fighter like du Plessis, and to say that he capitalized would be a huge understatement. This was an explosive win and ‘Stillknocks’ is clearly a fighter to watch going forward.
#5 Ilia Topuria shuts out the noise to knock out Ryan Hall at UFC 264
Spain’s Ilia Topuria came into UFC 264 as one of the featherweight division’s hottest prospects, with a record of 11-0 and two wins to his name in the UFC. However, last night he was faced with a tricky bout.
Grappling ace Ryan Hall – known as ‘The Wizard’ – brought his own winning streak into UFC 264 (4-0), and his style had proven difficult for anyone to deal with.
Immediately, Hall began the fight in his unorthodox style, rolling for potential leglocks and seemingly avoiding any kind of stand-up exchange with Topuria.
It would’ve been easy for the Spaniard to become lost in the noise and confusion and to engage Hall in the fight that he wanted, but showing incredible poise, Topuria steadfastly refused.
Instead, he took his time, stayed calm, and when Hall left himself slightly open following another roll, Topuria pounced. He delivered a series of violent and explosive punches that left ‘The Wizard’ unconscious with seconds to go in the first round.
This was a hugely impressive display from Topuria, who showed exactly why he’s so highly rated right now – and the fact that it came with a violent finish was just a bonus.
