UFC 302: Under Pressure

Two Legends Shine

What a spectacular fight.

I was not initially excited for this event given Poirier’s last two title fights, but was hoping he could come away with a satisfying victory. Makhachev came out the better, but the Diamond showed why he is one of the greatest lightweights of all time and should be remembered as an all-time great of the sport. He was older, stuck in his tendencies, and was facing a stylistic nightmare, but Dustin Poirier shone with some key strategic improvements that made this fight more competitive than anyone could have expected.

Though I focus on Poirier throughout much of the article, Makhachev’s craft and ability in the stand-up should not be glossed over. His improvements are a joy to have witnessed as he has formed a calculated counter-striking game. With such a beautifully competitive fight, there is simply too much good to talk about.

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 & Pressure

Given his performances against Charles Oliveira and Khabib, it was imperative that the Diamond did not concede range by backing himself onto the cage. Unfortunately for his fans, he did exactly this within the opening 40 seconds of the fight (V1). Poirier’s cage-craft has never been his strong suit against grapplers. His back foot countering is often so potent that he can comfortably back himself onto the cage and take advantage of an overzealous opponent. This is a death sentence against the Dagestanis, the worldwide best cage wrestlers in the sport. Once backed up they have innumerable options to take you down and grate you against the cage. It seemed that Poirier was destined to succumb to yet another rear naked choke loss in his third and final title opportunity as Makhachev craftily exposed the back once on top (V2).

V1: Makhachev throws the cross counter over Poirier’s jab, and seizes the initiative with a marching combination. Poirier backs up on a straight line and attempts to throw a wide uppercut to ward Makhachev off. Poirier is already behind the black line though, so Makhachev can drop on a single leg and finish with the ATT single leg / deadlift finish.

V2: Islam easily maintained half guard with heavy hip and chest pressure (notice how his hips are turns towards Poirier’s legs to keep his guard pressed down). Islam begins attacking the kimura and seemed to almost have Poirier dead to rights. Poirier grabs a waist cinch and begins building his base. He bases out with his hands and turns into Islam momentarily, only to turn out and escape out the side door. Islam maintains his kimura grip though, and follows Poirier until he is able to to take the back, break the turtle and sink his hooks in. Islam’s tight grip was imperative to preventing a scramble and staying on top of Poirier.

The first sign of hope that this fight might be different was Poirier’s improved defense on the back (V3). In his bouts with BSD and Michael Chandler, Poirier showed a staunch awareness of his susceptibility to the choke, outlasting both men to eventually find the finish. Poirier utilized a combination of high elbows to guard his neck, wrist control, and short punches behind his head to the face of Makhachev. He was in this position for 3 minutes and was able to survive and come on stronger int he latter rounds. It is also important to note that Poirier’s former title losses occurred in transition. Khabib sunk the choke in as Poirier was standing up along the cage, and Oliveira caught him while standing. While perfectly flat on his back, Poirier’s choke defense is more than sufficient for survival.

Poirier almost found himself on the business end of a transitional submission yet again when he pushed off the cage for a cheeky back door escape (V4). Thankfully, he was able to find his way out and begin enforcing his own pressure.

V3: Poirier was insistent on grip fighting and keeping a high “answer the phone” guard to protect his neck from the rear naked choke. He even showed a bit of Volkanovski tact throwing some behind the head punches that were more significant than most attempts. Poirier’s rear naked choke defense remained vigilant.

V4: Makhachev chose to circle Poirier off the fence while in mount to prevent the ATT wall-walk, but Poirier literally began to walk off the wall to force a scramble. Poirier pushes himself off the wall to escape out the back door, but Makhachev’s hips pressure is too strong to fully escape. Poirier left his arm exposed, and Makhachev grabs is after readjusting his feet. The grip is not tight enough, and Poirier can stand up, force a clinch to defense the takedown and punch through Makhachev’s clinch to regain space.

Back on his feet, Dustin Poirier could now illustrate how prepared he truly was for the pound-for-pound great in Islam Makhachev. Now when Makhachev began to pressure him back, he would respond with offense of his own to regain the center (V5). He was acutely aware of the black octagon around the center of the cage after the first (V6, V7). This fixture is often seen as a “no-go” zone against pressure grapplers like Islam and Khabib. Once your feet meet it, your chances of getting pushed to the cage skyrocket. Poirier’s feinting and lateral movement allowed him to regain the center before Makhachev could wrestle him against the cage.

V5: Poirier’s active high guard and head movement are usually paired with backwards movement when trying to avoid an opponents punches. The problem is that this tactic puts him against the fence, more susceptible to Makhachev’s cage wrestling game. To compensate, Poirier immediately begins to feint and jab after Makhachev’s combination and move forward to regain the center of the cage.

V6: Poirier feints his jab to force a backwards hop from Islam as he finds himself near the perimeter of the cage.

V7: Poirier notices the moment his feet cross the black octagon encircling the inside of the cage. Once he crosses it, he sidesteps and throws a shifting left straight to circle around Makhachev to come back to the center.

The threat of the takedown did not dissipate because of Poirier’s improved positioning. He still had to contend with the possibility of being taken down in open space. One quirk he added to his arsenal was a jab and dip (V8). Its application was two-fold. It gave Poirier the opportunity to defend takedowns preemptively (V12) and coerce a counter shot from Makhachev that he could counter himself (V26).

V8: A little quirk Poirier exhibited this fight was throwing a jab and dipping. The reason for this dip is likely two-fold. On one hand, it gave Poirier a preemptive way to defend the takedown. On the other, such an exaggerated movement might bait a counter from Islam that Poirier could counter himself. Due to Islam’s patience, he often ended up backing off entirely.

Poirier developed additional layers to his defense as well. When Makhachev did grab a leg he did not simply go for the gilly. Instead, he kept pressure on the head, turned his body, and limp legged out of Makhachev’s grasp (V9, V11). If Makhachev only had a grip on Poirier’s ankles, he made it absolutely hell for him to retain control, and reliably escaped every attempt (V10).

V9: Islam drops down on an obvious single attempt with arms outstretched. He gets ahold of the leg and Poirier retains constant pressure to push Makhachev’s head away. When Makhachev attempts to turn Poirier’s leg in, he limp legs and turns away, diving towards the floor. Realizing his positioning is not much better, Poirier gets up and pushes through the clinch to get back to the center of the octagon.

V10: Makhachev takes Poirier down with a simple double leg as he throws a leg kick. Poirier tries to grab the waist as if to wrestle with Makhachev, but Mak cuts the corner inside Poirier’s legs grab both of them, like a gator roll position in freestyle wrestling. Poirier maintains a post on his hands and kicks his feet until he is able to escape and meet Makhachev in the clinch.

V11: Islam’s actual shot mechanics can sometimes appear labored. Islam shoots and Poirier immediately gets a head and arm grip around Islam’s neck. Poirier does not want to lose his balance, so he postures up and puts pressure on the Mal’s head as he tries to run the pipe. Once Poirier slips his knee out, its a simple matter of limp-legging out and turning to face the opponent.

V12: Here we see Poirier successfully complete his jab and dip technique. Poirier jabs Islam to force him back, and feints the jab to get the guard up and throw a hard right hook to the body. Islam circles off, and Poirier jabs which forces the shot from Islam. Poirier’s immediate dip allowed him to get a strong underhook, break off from the clinch, and jab on the break.

All of these grappling improvements to Poirier’s game did not exclude his time against the cage. Rather than wrap up a guillotine Poirier looked for a wrist (V13). Wrist control prevents Makhachev from locking his hands under Poirier’s crotch to complete the deadlift/ATT high crotch finish that is so common to see from Islam, Khabib, and DC. If you can keep the opponent’s hands from meeting you can often prevent the takedown along the cage.

In another stark improvement from the Khabib fight, Poirier successfully executed a switch along the cage to reverse Makhachev’s takedown and come up in the clinch (V14). Once in the clinch these men produced some of the most competitive and protracted exchanges I’ve seen in MMA.

V13: Poirier was not able to limp leg and instead got pushed to the fence while Makhachev had the single leg. Once he has his man on the fence, Mak attempts to clasp his hands under Poirier’s taint but is instead met with some wrist control from Poirier. Poirier’s wrist control is eventually turned into Makhachev controlling Poirier’s wrist, but he is providing enough resistance where he is preventing Makhachev from clasping his hands to complete the takedown.

V14: Poirier is able to complete a beautiful switch (something he could not against Khabib). Poirier gets deep on Islam’s leg to put an enormous amount of pressure on his tricep. This traps Mak’s arm and forces his head to the ground, giving Poirier the opportunity to elbow him as he stands, turn that elbow into a post under Mak’s arms, and rip the body as he falls into the clinch. While in the clinch, Poirier maintains good head position with his own under Mak’s chin, and ceaselessly rips shots into the body until he throws a knee and circles off.

Clinch Fighting

Islam Makhachev was able to repeatedly create openings to enter the clinch and land knees (V15). The battle in the clinch was between Makhachev’ knees and Poirier’s elbows and punches (V16). Makhachev was able to find the most damaging shot within the clinch (V17), and was more dynamic in his transitions. Poirier responded with nuance though, and would not allow Islam to escape the close-range battle without finding a damaging strike of his own (V18). Poirier’s best success came when he was able to close the distance between their hips to prevent the knee, and force openings with his uppercuts and body work (V14, V19). This was an area of the fight that I expected Makhachev to dominate, finding takedowns through his striking, but Poirier managed to hold his own and come out the better on some exchanges.

V15: Islam enters the clinch by feinting the jab to get Poirier ducking, likely expecting a takedown, and landing a flush uppercut. While Poirier’s posture is broken and his guard is up, Islam wraps his arm around Poirier to throw a knee right up the middle. He throws another uppercut and turns it into a frame off Poirier’s chin. With the space this creates, Mak slides in double underhooks to push Poirier back to the cage.

V16: Poirier throws a right hook that he converts into a collar tie ala Oliviera, and lifts Islam’s arm to place it beside his head to prevent the double collar tie. As Mak retracts his hand, Poirier throws the elbow. After, Mak is able to grab a single collar tie and pull Poirier’s head into a knee.

V17: The nose-shattering knee. Poirier throws a stepping jab that Makhachev dips inside of to get an underhook with one arm, and as he closes the distance grab a collar tie with the other. As Poirier tries to swing his jabbing arm inside of Mak’s underhook, he gets pulled right into the knee that breaks his nose.

V18: A lovely exchange. Makhachev throws a step-in elbow just as Poirier steps back into southpaw, giving him the perfect angle to land it and convert into a collar tie as Poirier tries to frame off. Makhachev uses the collar tie to keep Poirier’s head in place and throw an uppercut right past Poirier’s head. Poirier crashes back into the clinch to stuff Mak’s arm, break wrist control, and throw a hook/elbow inside of Mak’s arm.

V19: Poirier shows his strength in being able to to turn Makhachev around onto the fence once he got double unders. Mak was able to catch Poirier’s wrist in the crook of his arm and a collar tie in transition. From here Makhachev opts to throws knees, and Poirier looks to rip the body and head with uppercuts. A great encapsulation of their dynamic here. Mak eventually gets a double collar tie, and Poirier responds by closing the distance with his hips to prevent any knees and work from a single collar tie of his own.

Striking Out

In the phase of the fight that most expected the Diamond to shine, Islam Makhachev stole the show. Poirier appeared more languid on the feet and his extended combinations and crisp counters were absent through large portions. Even his staple Poirier shift was only effectively used once (V20), and relegated to a feinting tool to regain pressure and cage position (V21). The threat of the takedown rears its ugly head. Though Poirier’s shifting was a potent tool throughout his whole career, the committed forward momentum made him a sucker for the takedown and gave opponents an easy entry to his hips.

V20: Makhachev hits a beautiful, straight 1-2 inside of Poirier’s rear hook. Poirier defends Mak’s successive rear straight attempt with a his Hillbilly Shell and counters with his only real success at using the Poirier shift in the fight. Though he lands clean Mak throws a hook over the top that he converts into a collar tie forcing some body shots from the Diamond.

V21: Poirier finds another tool to enforce some pressure of his own. Rather than using the Poirier shift offensively, he shifts through while feinting the rear hand to get Makhachev moving backwards, expecting the onslaught from Poirier.

Poirier relied more on his jab to find opportunities to land on Makhachev. His usual extended combinations and counters faced the same problem as his shift: the takedown threat. What made Poirier’s lack of success from the outside more frustrating was that Makhachev would often hop back from his jab attempts (V22). Makhachev was eventually able to counter Poirier’s constant, tentative jab (V23). Once he found these counters he was comfortable adopting Poirier’s use of extended combinations to drive him back (V24). He also showed a surprising level of same-side hand dexterity when throwing these combinations, in addition to their precision and use as a pressure tool (V25).

V22: Poirier looking to enforce his jab in order to pressure. Makhachev often hopped back from the threat

V23: Poirier steps into range with the jab, which Makhachev dips inside of to throw a lead uppercut. This stands Poirier up and Makhachev immediately converts his uppercut into a lead hook, forcing Poirier back out of range.

V24: Poirier attempts a 1-2 but Islam intercepts him with a jab from range while moving out towards his right. As they reset, Islam feints his a 1-2 and catches Poirier hiding behind his shoulder with a long lead hook. He follows up with an additional 2-3 to keep Poirier moving backwards.

V25: Poirier attempts to jab but is instead met with a sloppy 2-3 from Makhachev. Islam continues his combination with a 3-2, where the latter punch lands squarely on Poirier’s jaw moving back.

By the 4th round Poirier worked his way back into the striking exchanges, dictating some exchanges (V26). The more competitive they became the more Islam was forced on the defensive (V27). He did not lie quietly though, as Makhachev was able to promptly follow up on his defensive weaving by incorporating some hard shots of his own (V28). An integrated offense and defense. These men continually responded to the adaptations of the other. Just as Makhachev found his groove, Poirier responded with uppercuts and hooks around the shelled guard of his opponent (V29). Poirier’s craft and resilience as a veteran with one of the strongest schedules in the sport allowed him to not only survive but thrive near the end of the bout (V30). Both men showed an incredible impressive ability to respond to the other. Makhachev’s boxing, footwork, and extended combinations were genuinely improved, and he is standing out as a striker in the Lightweight division. Though Poirier’s striking seemed impotent early, he grew more determined in defending Makhachev’s grappling attempts. As he did he slowly opened up his striking arsenal to open up on what appeared to be a fading champion. Just as it seemed Poirier found his groove in the fifth, the grit of a champion prevailed to find the finish (V31).

V26: Poirier enforces some pressure with a jab and dip, and Islam sends out a tentative jab of his own. Poirier jabs and dips again, preemptively avoiding a cross-counter from Makhachev and dips away from Makhachev’s shifting rear hand.

V27: Poirier attempts a 1-1-2, but it is rendered useless as Islam jabs with him on the second, and weaves outside of the oncoming rear hand.

V28: Poirier is able to intercept Makhachev’s double jab with a dipping jab of his own. Poirier then double jabs himself and tries to catch Makhachev with an uppercut as he weaves under them. Largely unfazed, Makhachev returns with an overhand while his head is in Poirier’s chest, doubles up on it, and ends with the rear.

V29: Poirier eventually got a read on Makhachev’s attempts to stay in range and counter. Starting with the jab to force the shell, and throw hooks and uppercuts through the guard. Makhachev backs out of range before Poirier can land his right hook.

V30: Despite losing in the fifth, Poirier’s resilience allowed him to land one of his better shots in the fight. He finally connected with a flush 1-1-2 as Makhachev attempted to counter with a check hook.

V31: The finishing sequence. I break this down here.

I came away incredibly happy with this card. A tepid affair throughout, Poirier’s incredible heart and improvements were incredible to witness. Makhachev’s skill is awe-inspiring, and both men showed how much you can improve in an area where you are written off. If you are to gain anything from my articles, I hope they exemplify that you can improve. You can become a genuine force in all you do in life with the proper training, preparation, and mind. Approach life as if you are approaching a fight, and you might surprise yourself. Let me know what you thought of this card, and what you hope to implement into your training.

All love.

ABT

-Kick