We expected the fight of the evening at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas between Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker and that’s exactly what the two fighters offered.
The two fighters went to the limit where it was finally Dustin Poirier who had the upper hand by unanimous decision of the judges (48-47, 48-47 and 48-46).
“It was difficult,” said Poirier. Dan wanted to fight. He is tough. It is on the rise. He really believed he could beat me. I trusted my team, my talent and my determination. “
Hooker started as a lion by hitting the target the most in the first round taking advantage of a slow start to the fight for Poirier who had difficulty finding his distance at the start of the fight.
In the second round, Poirier woke up with solid touches, however, cutting the New Zealander to the right brow bone, but it was Hooker who regained control with solid combinations of punches in the last minute. spectacular.
From the third round Poirier however regained control of the fight. The American almost caught the New Zealander in his trap with the guillotine. The Louisian maintained the head of his rival for a long time under the force of his biceps, but Hooker managed to barely extricate himself.
Poirier almost did it again with an arm key and a scapula in the fourth round, but once again his opponent was able to resist these two very difficult positions.
The fifth and final round was hotly contested as Hooker attempted several leads to collect points, but it was ultimately the American who did enough to find the path to victory.
Poirier was back in the octagon for the first time since he lost in the 3rd round against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 last September in Abu Dhabi.
For his part, Hooker had won his last three fights against Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta and James Vick.
Perry defeats Gall and attacks government
In the semifinals, Mike Perry ended a two-game losing streak with a unanimous decision win over Mickey Gall. The judges handed over three identical cards from 29-28.
Gall almost surprised Perry with a triangular choke with ten seconds to go in the third round, but Perry managed to avoid the catch and conclude his victory on the judges’ cards.
“I ask the government to lower my taxes”
–
“I can only trust myself in the octagon. Mickey trained very well. Several people thought that he would win this fight, but I trained like a professional, I worked like a professional for this victory, explained the winner.
True to his reputation, Perry also reacted by delivering his thoughts on the taxes he had to pay to the government, criticizing the meager part he has left at the end of a fight.
“I’m going to have to pay off debts and speak with the tax authorities. We will have to see if we can fix things because I think I paid more than $ 100,000 in taxes last year all over the world and they still try to extract it from me at the end of the year. It seems like I fight for a minimum wage sometimes. I am not someone asking for more money! I’m just asking the government to stop taking so much! “
Impressive victory for the Canadian Bulldozer
The Albertan Tanner “Bulldozer” Boser served a correction to his rival Philipe Lins from the first round during the heavyweight fight in the preliminary box.
Boser (18-6-1) surprised the Brazilian with a blow to the back of the head before laying down his rival with a rush of punches that forced referee Herb Dean to end the fight at 2: 41 of the 1st round.
“I feel really good,” said the Canadian after his victory. Getting my first knockout in the UFC is completely crazy. “
It was the last of five action weekends at the UFC Apex gymnasium, located on the circuit’s official campus in Las Vegas. The UFC organized eight closed-door galas during the coronavirus pandemic, after an eight-week break.
The UFC will take a week-long break before relaunching its activities on July 12 at Yas Island, in Abu Dhabi, with the presentation of the UFC 251 gala, a card that will include three championship fights. The mixed martial arts circuit will present a total of four galas in 14 days at this place, nicknamed ‘Fight Island’, before returning to the United States.
–
