A prizefight, like any sporting contest, is about telling a story. The back and forth, the ups and downs of a story are what make it compelling, dramatic. In the combat sports world, we talk a lot about “momentum swings,” but what we’re really talking about are thrilling twists, heartbreaking turns, and climactic moments of heroic triumph. The more treacherous the journey, the more satisfying the destination.
UFC 236 gave us two of the greatest stories ever told in the sport of MMA. Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier went to war for five savage rounds, neither able to overwhelm the other.