He didn’t waste the opportunity.
“The Diamond” took the fight to Max Holloway (20-4) from the opening moments of their main event bout at UFC 236 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta and survived some scary moments to take a five-round unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) and become the new UFC interim lightweight champion.
A standout who rose up through the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting promotion as a 22-year-old, Poirier (25-5, 1 NC) reflected on the journey to his enormous win in his post-fight interview.
“Man, this feels amazing,” Poirier said. “I feel like I’m in a dream right now.