UFC 242: Dustin Poirier on Why He’ll Think About Guillotine Choke Attempt “The Rest of my Life”

Dustin Poirier generated a collective gasp throughout the MMA world at UFC 242, by threatening Khabib Nurmaegomdov with a third-round, guillotine choke. But, after his devastating defeat, the former interim champ outlined why he’ll think about what he did during those moments for the rest of his life.

Poirier’s big moment

As many expected would be the case, Nurmagomedov outscored Poirier throughout much of Saturday’s fight with his wrestling and top game. Poirier came with a nice flurry in round two, but in round three, he likely had his most memorable moment. Poirier went for a guillotine choke and it looked like he had it in tight on the champ. But, after several, tense moments, Khabib worked his way out. Not long after, the lightweight champ took Poirier’s back and sunk in a fight-ending, rear-naked-choke.

Poirier’s post-fight comments about the submission attempt

Well, during the post-fight presser, Poirier had this to say about the guillotine choke, and where he believes he went wrong (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“The guillotine was really deep,” Poirier said. “But for the rest of my life I’m gonna look back and wonder why I didn’t jump full guard with it. I just threw one leg over so he couldn’t pass, to take the choke off. I should have jumped full guard. I don’t know why I went shin across the stomach with the right leg, or whatever I had, butterfly with it, I should have gone full guard so he couldn’t roll out and relieve the pressure.

“When I hurt him—maybe in the back of my head the takedown was—I felt like I couldn’t get anything going with my standup. He’s very awkward, he dips his head and throws uppercuts, he never got into an orthodox kickboxing or boxing exchange on the feet. It was all one punch at a time or him dipping and throwing a knee or him dipping and throwing an uppercut. I didn’t get a rhythm. I felt like the way he was pulling back it was hard for me to set up my combinations and get into a rhythm. I know I sound like I have a lot of excuses, but I was just so prepared for tonight. This one really hurts.”

It was definitely a memorable third round, and Khabib deserves a lot of credit for remaining calm and working his way out of the submission. Would the result of have been different if Poirier had jumped full guard on the choke? Maybe.

With Saturday’s loss, Poirier’s overall record now stands at 25-6. Nurmagomedov moved his record to 28-0 with the win.