"That was a beautiful night" - Justin Gaethje says Dustin Poirier's knockout of Conor McGregor at UFC 257 was the KO of the year

Justin Gaethje chose Dustin Poirier's knockout of Conor McGregor at UFC 257 as his KO of the year.

'The Diamond' won at Fight Island on January 24, 2021 after using a combination of punches to briefly silence the brash McGregor. Poirier leveled the score 1-1 with 'Notorious', who beat him in a 2014 featherweight contest.

During a chat with the UFC 269 weigh-in panel on Friday, Gaethje was asked to choose the best knockout win of the year. Here is the current No. 2-ranked lightweight contender's reply:

"I am going with Poirier vs. McGregor [2] because I can't tend to be petty and he [Conor] said he did not go to sleep [at UFC 257]. So let us watch it closer... That was a beautiful night. Yeah, he went to sleep. Night, night! Honestly, I like the one in which he broke his leg [at UFC 264] better. But here we go," said Gaethje.

Watch Justin Gaethje in conversation with Laura Sanko, Dan Hellie and Daniel Cormier below:

Dustin Poirier also beat Conor McGregor in their trilogy fight at UFC 264 via TKO after a referee stoppage at the end of the first round. 'Mystic Mac' suffered a broken leg and is still out of action.

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Dustin Poirier will headline UFC 269 this weekend in a lightweight championship showdown with Charles Oliveira

Poirier finally gets another shot at the UFC lightweight championship this Saturday. He will square off against titleholder Charles Oliveira in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The No.5-ranked UFC men's pound-for-pound fighter last fought for the 155-pound title at UFC 242 in September 2019. He lost as interim champ to Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission in the third round of their unification clash.

Dustin Poirier holds a 28-6-1 record in his professional mixed martial arts career, while Oliveira is 31-8-1. The duo have contested a cumulative 54 bouts inside the octagon. This will be their first encounter against each other.