Eddie Alvarez was impressed Dustin Poirier knocked out Conor McGregor at UFC 257, but says that “The Diamond” deserves all of his success.
Poirier and McGregor met earlier this year on Fight Island in the rematch between the two longtime rivals. After their first meeting in September 2014 ended with McGregor knocking Poirier out in the first round, many fans thought that the Irishman would get the job done again in the rematch. However, Poirier pulled off the upset when he was able to knock McGregor out in the second round with punches. The two will now meet at UFC 264 this summer in Las Vegas in what is one of the biggest trilogies the UFC has ever put on.
Speaking to James Lynch, Alvarez — who has previously fought both McGregor and Poirier in the UFC — admitted that he was surprised that Poirier knocked McGregor out at UFC 257. However, “The Underground King” said that he was happy to see Poirier win the fight.
“I was surprised. I thought if the fight stood standing, Conor would have the advantage,” Alvarez said. “But if you go back and look at my interviews, I said it clearly, if there’s any way that Dustin can get this done, he absolutely has to put sprints on McGregor, and that’s how he ended up finishing him. I feel like he put that sprint on him. Dustin does these sprints so well. They come in droves, like maybe a 20-second sprint, then he’ll go back to box, then he’ll do another 20-second sprint. He put that sprint on Conor, forced him to panic, make mistakes, make his heart rate go up, and he was able to get the finish. It was phenomenal. I was happy for him. If anybody in that division deserves that kind of success, or money, or accolades, it’s Dustin. He’s put his time in, he’s fought the best guys, and he’s starting to see the fruits of his labor.”