How to MMA: Finishing with Dustin Poirier

Don't Laugh!

What makes a great finisher in martial arts? Some might think of thunderous hitters like George Foreman, Julian Jackson, and Alex Pereira. Others might think of those with a dynamic toolbox like Charles Oliveira. Whether achieved in an instant or through a steady stream of offense, finishing a fight is a skill all its own.

You might think this silly. “Yeah just land one big shot and the fight is over, everyone has a puncher’s chance”. While that is true to an extent, the best finishers are able to pry open their opponent’s defenses with stunning consistency.

A fighter often cited as being a poor finisher is Jeremy Stephens. Stephens is a fighter of incredible power and tenacity with a mere 7 finishes in a lengthy UFC career. In fights he has either lost or won by decision he has hurt his opponents, but cannot deliver the nail in the coffin.

Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier is a man standing in stark contrast to this. Poirier has respectable power but rarely delivers a “one-and-done” sort of blow to take his opponent out. Poirier hurts his opponents and finishes the job by drowning them in a constant barrage of fists.

Poirier is currently booked to fight up and coming finishing machine Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. This will be a litmus test of Saint Denis’ potential and where Poirier stands at this stage of his career. Let’s take a look at Poirier’s best finishes and see how he can take the Frenchman out should he hurt him.

Disclaimer: The video clips included in this article are not owned by the author. They are included for educational purposes only to illustrate key moments in the fighter’s career and demonstrate aspects of mixed martial arts techniques and strategies. All rights to the video content belong to their respective owners.

Poirier has a wonderful penchant for hurting his opponents. In a fight preceding his post-Michael Johnson transformation, he was able to hurt Yancy Medeiros with an open-side body kick. Medeiros keeled over in pain and instinctively protected his right side while backing up towards the fence.

Here is where the Diamond shines.

Poirier immediately begins throwing some straight shots to the head as Medeiros can do naught but back up along the cage. As Medeiros tries to escape, Poirier throws a right hook to catch him and cut off his exit. An opponent has less defensive and offensive options with their back to the cage so Poirier ensures to keep them there, corralling them with his strikes.

Now that Medeiros’ movement has slowed, Poirier throws a straight shot and grabs Medeiros with a collar tie. Medeiros is trying to protect his head while keeled over from the body shot so Poirier crushes the distance and takes advantage of his opponent’s broken posture to throw some short uppercuts and hooks.

Medeiros tries to escape to his right, and Poirier forms an immediate blockade with a left straight. Now that Medeiros is again stilled, Poirier begins a combination working over and under the loose and sloppy guard of his opponent to secure the finish.

In more impressive fashion Poirier was able to take out Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje, two men with incredible chins and dangerous skillsets. Poirier utilized the same tactics he used against Medeiros to batter Eddie Alvarez. Poirier initially punished Alvarez’s step in with a knee and followed up with a stepping rear hand straight that catches him clean. Poirier continues to tag Alvarez with uppercuts from his rear hand and hooks with his lead hand to force him backwards.

Once Poirier smells blood he puts his all into the attack. Poirier moves forward incessantly, squaring his stance to maintain power in his shots. When your opponent is backing up and solely focused on defending themselves the chances of them returning with a significant shot are low. Poirier moves forward, throws hard, moves forward, throws hard; until his opponent hits the fence. Alvarez himself is a master of moving laterally while on the cage but his current mental state prevents him from doing so to nullify Poirier’s onslaught.

Due to Alvarez’s unkillability, Poirier has to wail on him for about a minute before Alvarez is forced to stop throwing desperate offense of his own. Despite his reputation as a boxer Poirier unleashes all of his weapons. Alvarez’s primary reaction to Poirier’s pressure is to duck along the fence so Dustin attempts a head kick. Alvarez continues to put his high guard up and duck. Poirier posts on the head and elbows Alvarez right in the head through his guard to drop him, forcing the referee to intervene.

The key to finishing is in finding the right weapon to finish the job.

Prior to his evolution into a more considered counter-striker, Justin Gaethje was INSISTENT on throwing leg kicks while in boxing range. Gaethje will put himself out of position when throwing his leg kicks (head over his hips and in close to the opponent) as he insists on putting his whole weight behind them. While effective throughout his fight with Poirier, Gaethje is made a sucker for the rear hand as he is trying to regain position.

Once he sees Gaethje wobble after the rear hand counter, he can do little else but increase the intensity and pressure with which he beats Justin Gaethje’s ass. Gaethje’s primary defensive reaction is to put up the high guard and lean, similar to Eddie Alvarez. Not yet against the fence, Poirier pounds same-side hooks into Gaethje’s temple until he is forced to throw back. Poirier keeps his eyes open and evades just enough for Gaethje to miss and put him in position to throw another counter shot.

Poirier maintains his pressure but calmly analyzes Gaethje’s body language. He is wary of a wild swing from Gaethje but instead Gaethje tries to circle off the fence. Now that he has confirmed his opponent is solely committed to defense he pounces. Throwing uppercuts through Gaethje’s lazy guards and hooks over the clinch attempts, Gaethje stumbles to the fence and is finished with straight shots.

Straight shots along the fence are perfect as the opponent cannot simply back up to avoid them. Gaethje is pinned against the fence, dazed, and is forced to eat 2 straight strikes from the Diamond.

Poirier is a SPECIAL finisher because is able to maintain a balance between ferocity and serenity when his opponent is hurt. He is not so patient that his opponent has time to recover, but not so reckless that he will get knocked out with desperate counters from his opponents. Poirier will throw a combination and quietly assess his opponents’ reactions. Gaethje continued to back up while stumbling around the ring so Poirier put the pace back on him. His ability to observe his opponent while faced with the excitement of finishing them is admirable.

I would theorize that his continued adaptation of his “Hillbilly Shell” and becoming comfortable at searching for counters within the pocket developed a sense of calm and comfort when in extremely exciting situations. The more comfortable he became at observing shots through his shell to defend and counter, the more comfortable he became at finding the right approach and tools to finishing his opponents once hurt.

Poirier’s magnum opus was his revenge against Conor McGregor. Throughout their bout, McGregor had trouble adapting to Poirier’s use of the leg kicks and closed-stance lead hook. While McGregor had some success in open space, Poirier seized the momentum by letting his hands fly with his opponent against the cage. Poirier was more apt to counter in open-space so his sudden burst of aggression was certainly a surprise to The Notorious.

Though McGregor was able to evade Poirier’s hook thrown in the squared stance, Poirier is infamous for his shifts. He lets the momentum of his missed strike carry him into an orthodox stance making it an open-stance matchup. He throws an unexpected right hook from orthodox that catches McGregor clean and carries Poirier back into a southpaw stance. McGregor is visibly rattled by the strike and can do little else but circle away and attempt to frame.

The stance switching was certainly jarring to McGregor as a lead hand hook sails over his frame and cracks him. Now McGregor begins to shell up and his posture deteriorates as a result. Poirier throws a low hook that catches him perfectly and finishes the job as McGregor falls to the mat. It all seemed to happen in an instant but Poirier’s stance switching and well-placed hooks spelled doom for McGregor as he could not back away in open space, and was followed with fists of brick while trying to circle off the cage.

Dustin Poirier is a special fighter: one of the greatest Lightweights and most exciting fighters of all time. It would seem to many as though he’s standing on the last legs of his long UFC career but his craft and bloodlust should not be discounted even if his athletic peak is past. Benoit St. Denis is a tough prospect, but an inexperienced one. If Poirier finds his shot I have little doubt that he can add to his already legendary resume in one of the premier divisions in MMA.

Good luck Diamond, and go buy his hot sauce.

-Kick