Dustin Poirier Critiques Performance in Slugfest With Dan Hooker

Dustin Poirier got back on track at UFC Vegas 4, by defeating one of the UFC’s most dangerous lightweights in Dan Hooker. But ‘The Diamond’ believes he could have been better.

Poirier critiques winning performance

As soon as the Poirier – Hooker bout was announced, it created a big buzz among hardcore fans. The lightweights delivered on that hype and then some on Saturday night, as Poirier and Hooker went to war for 25 minutes.

After five rounds, it looked like Poirier would be awarded the decision win, and he was. But, Poirier didn’t emerge from the fight unscathed, far from it.

While he landed 208 strikes during the thrilling fight, Poirier also took 182 from Hooker. After the bout, the 31-year-old noted that he took too much punishment in the fight (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“It was a tough one, man,” Poirier said. “Dan came to fight. He’s a tough guy. He’s on the rise and really thought he was going to get passed me.

He talked a lot of trash, like, he was going to move forward and fight the champ — but I’m the champ. This is what I love to do. I put all the work in. I trust in my team, skill, and work ethic. I came here, pulled another one out, and had a few more rounds in me.”

“I could have been a little bit sharper,” Poirier said. “I didn’t move out of the way of a few shots. It’s not that I disrespected Dan’s power, but I stayed in the pocket too long. I should have been sharper.

At the end, I started getting in my range and countering off his lazy shots. I landed some good ones and made his head snap back.

I was stealing the rounds with shots like that, but I can do better.”

Fair enough right? While beating Hooker is no easy task, these comments are indicative of why Poirier has been so successful. He’s always looking to improve.

What’s next for Poirier?

The former interim champ was also asked about his plans for the rest of 2020, but it’s clear Poirier’s not completely certain if he’ll fight before the year is up.

“Maybe I’ll fight at the end of the year,” Poirier said. “Maybe I’ll fight next year. I just want to go home to my daughter.

I’m a winner and it was a long time off. It was the longest break in my career. I had to take nine months off and sit on the sidelines. I had to overcome some stuff.

“Now that I’m a victor again, I want to get back to the drawing board. I want to keep getting better. I want to stay in love with this sport.

I don’t want to push myself so much to where I hate this. I’ve been doing this a long time and pushing myself to the limits every day. So I just want to do it right.”

How about a fight with Tony Ferguson on the UFC’s year end show?