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#4. Dustin Poirier's calf kicks
As a southpaw, Diaz fights with his right leg as his lead leg. He uses a conventional boxing stance, with much of his weight loaded onto his lead leg while leaning forward.
His lead leg is turned inward, which allows him to check inside low kicks from orthodox fighters. That's because the alignment means an orthodox fighter's rear leg is lined up with Diaz's, which is too far away to kick. For orthodox fighters, only kicks to the inside of Diaz's lead leg are possible, but he remains poorly suited to checking outside-low kicks from southpaws.
Dustin Poirier, a fellow southpaw, will present a different alignment as his rear leg is lined up with Diaz's lead leg.
As Diaz turns his lead leg inward, his calf is hyper-exposed to southpaw low kicks. Poirier, who has added calf kicks as part of his striking game, will punish Diaz with counter kicks every time Diaz steps in for a jab, just as the Louisianan did against McGregor.
This will prevent Diaz from building off his jab, opening him up to counters as his stance is momentarily destabilized.
#3. Dustin Poirier's shifting combinations
Poirier makes consistent use of shifting combinations. He steps in with a punch, then shifts stance mid-combination, ending his attack in a different stance.
His shifting combinations are well-suited to orthodox fighters, but at first glance seem to open him up to southpaw counters because of the difference in alignment and guards. Dustin Poirier, however, seems to know that his southpaw opponents will look to counter his shifting combinations with left hooks and straight lefts.
His answer to this is to tease the shift to draw out his opponent's counter-left hook or straight left, then duck under their punches for a well-timed takedown when their hips are squared and exposed. Against Diaz, who is susceptible to wrestling, Dustin Poirier can secure easy takedowns by doing so.
Once he's established the threat of his takedown, Poirier then uses this to set up an actual shifting combination when his opponent expects him to time another takedown. Against a southpaw with a vulnerability to wrestling like Diaz, Dustin Poirier can draw out his left hook and straight left for well-time takedowns.
Once Diaz is expecting a takedown, Poirier will instead commit to the shifting combination.
