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Dustin Poirier has exchanged heavy blows with some of the toughest competitors throughout his decade-long UFC career. But according to 'The Diamond', his fight against Dan Hooker last year pushed him to the limits.
Poirier and Hooker engaged in a five-round war that saw both the lightweights work their fingers to the bone for straight 25 minutes. At the end of the fifth round, it was Poirier who eked out a narrow decision win.
The Diamond recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he was asked about the toughest "war" he has been in. Poirier replied:
"Hooker fight was a war, Korean Zombie (Chan Sung Jung) fight was a war. That was a while back, but that was a pretty bad one. Probably too much damage in the Hooker fight," said Dustin Poirier.
Poirier further recalled his clash against former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. The fight was ruled no contest after Alvarez landed illegal knees to Poirier's head. The 32-year-old stated that being on the receiving edge of those brutal knees gave him the worst head trauma of his career.
"I've never had headaches or anything after those fights. Like the next days, I'm fine. The worst head trauma that I think I have ever had in my career - and I have been stopped a couple times from strikes - was in Dallas when Eddie Alvarez kneed me. That was the most... symptoms I have had from headshot like that. I wasn't "out-out" or anything like that... and we drove back to Lousiana right after the next day and I was sick, car sick, the bumps in the road, the light was messing with me, I said this is for sure from getting hit in the head," said Dustin Poirier.
Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker put on a fight for the ages
Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker battled it out in the main event of UFC Vegas 4 in June 2020. The Diamond was ranked No.3 in the lightweight division, while Hooker came into the fight as the No.5 contender.
Both men traded heavy punches back-and-forth from the first minute of their clash. Neither of the two took the fight to the mat until they were exhausted in the later rounds.
It did seem like Hooker outdid Poirier in the first two frames, but the Lousiana native grew stronger thereon. In the championship rounds, Dustin Poirier did enough to convince the judges and emerged victorious via unanimous decision (48–47, 48–47, 48–46)
