“Straight to the back of the head” - Viral claim challenging legality of Justin Gaethje’s UFC 291 kick triggers huge debate on MMA Twitter

A viral claim regarding the legality of Justin Gaethje's impressive knockout win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 has triggered a huge debate on MMA Twitter.

Twitter account @MMAJOEYC posted a screenshot of the kick that knocked out Poirier. He mentioned that the kick landed on the back of 'The Diamond's' head and questioned whether it could possibly be used as evidence to appeal the result of the BMF title fight.

@MMADumbTweets retweeted the tweet with a caption that started a debate with a mixed reaction.

Fans that were in favor of the result being overturned, including UFC strawweight Diana Belbita, weighed in with their opinions after seeing where Justin Gaethje's kick landed, writing:

"It makes sense why" [@DianaBelbita -Twitter]

"Has a point" [@omio_17 - Twitter]

"Yep, overturn it to a DQ win for Dustin I’ve seen enough" [@TheArtOfWar6 - Twitter]

"DQ!!! I knew it was a fluke. Smh @ufc DO SOMETHING!!!" [@CapMcQueen - Twitter]

"Love me some good satire with my coffee" [@ZachTheSkeletan - Twitter]

"As weird as it sounds, the rule doesn't really apply to head kicks at all. The same goes for eye pokes due to head kicks. Megan Anderson got the Tko[eye injury] victory over Cat Zigano when her toe scratched Cat's eye." [@OZtheGREATER - Twitter]

Twitter comments

Despite some of the comments that were either in agreement or had an open mind on the possibility of the result being overturned, that sentiment wasn't shared by many others. Fans commented on the post and blasted the mere thought of Justin Gaethje's kick being deemed illegal.

Fans wrote:

"Straight to the back of the head" [@TopMMAContent - Twitter]

"Kicks wrap around the head all the time. It’s not illegal" [@qpe - Twitter]

"Just give Usman the title back then. Same exact kick of Edwards 1st KO." [@OGOptionSlayer - Twitter]

"People who never threw a kick judging:" [@IronRoyalx - Twitter]

"The force hit the side, but LOL keep up the comedy" [@COFFTEA_US - Twitter]

"No because it wasn’t a intentional shot. Intentionally hitting someone in the back of the head is illegal. Not when the foot whips around and hits it" [@ryanmcd92 - Twitter]

"It was non deliberate, Dustin's body leaned into it that way. It's not like he targeted the back of the head" [@HBKSmile - Twitter]

"I’m the biggest Dustin Poirier fan on planet earth and I couldn’t come up with something this dumb, y’all need to seek help" [@sandipantsmma - Twitter]

Twitter comments

It doesn't appear as though the result will be overturned, but it will be interesting to see whether Justin Gaethje shares his opinion on the debate.

---

Dustin Poirier believes he is still a better fighter than Justin Gaethje

Despite his knockout loss and now having split wins, Dustin Poirier believes that he is still a better fighter than Justin Gaethje.

During his appearance on The MMA Hour, Poirier addressed his loss to 'The Highlight' at UFC 291. When comparing his defeat to his previous title loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, 'The Diamond' mentioned that he doesn't believe Gaethje is better than him:

"Khabib [Nurmagomedov] was better than me... I lost Saturday to somebody who I think I'm better than [Justin Gaethje]... I was away from home for nine weeks in training camp, you know? I dieted 11 weeks, sacrificed so much, was really focused, man."