It’s a strange feeling when the guy who just lost his third and probably last shot at a UFC title ends up walking away at the end of the night looking like a hero. Strange, but not unpleasant.
The permanent record will show that on June 1, 2024, Dustin Poirier lost via fifth-round submission to 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev. It will also show that this was Poirier’s third loss in his last five fights, which doesn’t seem great. But there’s so much you miss when you just go by the facts and the numbers. In the case of the UFC 302 main event — and maybe even the case of Poirier’s entire career — you miss the stuff that makes people watch professional fighting in the first place.