Dustin Poirier came away with a thrilling victory in an instant classic at UFC on ESPN 12 and, as a result, is moving up on two lists.
In the “Fight of the Night” that is sure to remain a “Fight of the Year” candidate, Poirer earned a gutsy unanimous decision over Dan Hooker in this past Saturday’s main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The victory put Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) back in the win column after he lost to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last September.
For his efforts, Poirier, who’s won five of his last six fights, has made some major moves in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings. At lightweight, Poirier moves from No. 4 to No. 2, jumping ahead of current interim champ Justin Gaethje, whom he holds a head-to-head victory over. And on the pound-for-pound list, Poirier goes from honorable mention to No. 10, also ahead of Gaethje and dropping Tony Ferguson down to honorable mention status.
You can check out all the moves to come out of UFC on ESPN 12 in the dropdowns above.
