Professional MMA fighter & trainer Hollywood Joe Tussing brings you the Fight Review/Recap for the main fight Dustin Poirier & Justin Gaethje on the UFC Fight Night 29 fight card on April 14, 2018.
The main fight on the UFC Fight Night 29 fight card, Justin Gaethje vs Dustin “the Diamond” Poirier was an outstanding event. Both fighters came out and really put it on the line. Justin Gaethje did outstanding work with the inside leg kicks. Dustin Poirier stands as a southpaw and Gaethje as an orthodox, so Gaethje was really using that rear leg kick when Poirier would throw his left hook. That move was really tearing up Poirier’s leg and he was really having trouble with it, especially in the third round. Dustin Poirier’s boxing did look super crisp. Justin Gaethje has a style where he likes to wade in and cover up with both hands over his face and Poirier really took advantage of that stepping to the outside and throwing a lot of front hooks and body hooks.
I wish he would have done a little more work to Gaethje ‘s body, but he was really landing some shots and Gaethje was wearing it on the face the entire fight. Poirier however was wearing the leg kicks. In the third round I really thought Gaethje had a chance to win the fight with leg kicks but he really didn’t get on top of Poirier to much.
Eye Pokes
There were tons of eye pokes in this fight, and Gaethje actually lost a point in the third round for his second eye poke. Being a fighter myself I really don’t understand what the problem is with all these fighters that continue to take poke their opponents in the eyes. I have not had an issue with it and it bewilders me. To see professional fighters like Justin Gaethje, John Jones, and others, who as soon as someone throws a punch at them they immediately extend their arm open their hand with fingers spread at their opponents face. Gaethje deserved to lose a point for that because you can really injury someone very badly and permanently with these eye pokes. Hopefully the UFC will move to a different type of glove, maybe or do something, because just taking a point away for an eye poke is not enough punishment, for the potential damage that an eye poke can cause. Dustin Poirier right at the end of the third round looked like he might have poked Justin Gaethje in the eye as well.
Poirier Gets The Win
They come out for the fourth round and Gaethje is touching his eye a bit. The first thing that Gaethje throws is a leg kick, and Poirier countered with a straight left, as he had been trying to do the entire fight.
That straight left really rocked Gaethje and had him doing the “stanky leg” just stumbling around the cage. Poirier did a very good job of following but not getting too overzealous and not letting Gaethje get
back into the rhythm. He landed a lot of three hook combos and some front hand triple hooks which I loved. Poirier finished up the fight by dropping Gaethje again against the cage, at which point referee Herb Dean stepped in and pulled him off.
Dustin Poirier’s boxing looked super crisp in this fight. I wish he would have checked some of the leg kicks in the first round, as it may have been an even quicker fight for Poirier. Gaethje’s striking is just not on
the same level as Poirier’s, but his toughness, heart, and grit keeps him in these fights. This is his second loss so it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
