Dustin Poirier Watched Tony Ferguson vs. Donald Cerrone, And “The Diamond” Wasn’t Too Impressed

Donald Cerrone and Tony Ferguson picked up “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC 238, and the bout had lots of fans buzzing for days. But Dustin Poirier had an interesting take on went down in the highly anticipated fight.

Cerrone appeared to be getting the better of Ferguson in round one, but in round two, “El Cucuy” started to find his range and bloodied up “Cowboy” with punches (yes, one of which was after the round’s horn). Cerrone made the mistake of trying to blow his bloody nose in between rounds, his eye swelled shut, and the fight was called.

Well, recently Poirier spoke with media ahead of his September 7th fight with lightweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov. While talking with ESPN, “The Diamond” had this to say about the contest (quote via Lowkick MMA).

“Yeah, I watched it,” Poirier said. “It was a fun fight to watch. I thought Tony started pulling away, Donald started wearing a lot of damage, getting busted up. I thought Tony was starting to take over the fight. It would have been interesting to see if he would have kept pulling away in the third round.

“But I thought they looked kind of slow. I don’t know, I’m focused on Khabib right now, but I think beat everybody in my division.”

The “slow” comment is an interesting one. Ferguson did appear to be off his game during the opening minutes of the fight, and although he scored on Cerrone often in round two, it wasn’t the same, dynamic performance we’ve seen from him. Could it be due to the fact Ferguson hadn’t fought since October? Could it have been on account of nerves? And what was riding on the contest? Was Cerrone on the other hand, somewhat hesitant, thinking Ferguson might explode at any second? With a more unconventional strike or take down?

Or, is age starting to catch up with the reflexes of the 36 year-old Cerrone and 35 year-old Ferguson? The fighters and their camps would very likely say no.

Nurmagomedov – Poirier will headline UFC 242, which will take place in Abu Dhabi.