Dustin Poirier Not Willing to Call Eddie Alvarez Dirty, But ‘We’ve Got to Draw the Line Somewhere’

When Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez were booked for a rematch at UFC on Fox 30, fireworks were all but guaranteed.

Just as they did in their first meeting, the lightweights delivered in that regard, right up until Poirier swarmed on Alvarez for a technical knockout stoppage 4:05 into the second round of their encounter at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on Saturday night.

The rematch was also similar in another way, as a foul committed by Alvarez drastically altered the course of the fight. At UFC 211, an illegal knee landed by “The Underground King” resulted in the bout being declared a no contest at the 4:12 mark of round two.

This time, Alvarez had Poirier mounted near the cage in the second stanza when he dropped a 12-to-6 elbow on his opponent’s shoulder. At that point, referee Marc Goddard ordered a standup and warned Alvarez about the illegal blow, which didn’t hurt Poirier.

“The ref’s like, he comes up to me in the corner when he stood us up, he said, ‘That’s an illegal strike and I’m taking the position away from Eddie.’” Poirier said. “And I mean, it’s out of my hands, man. You know? Whether he did it on purpose, but that one didn’t hurt me. I let them know, I’m fine, it didn’t even land, it landed on my neck or my shoulder.”

However, Poirier definitely benefitted from the restart, as he immediately teed off on Alvarez with punches, backing his suddenly-reeling opponent up against the fence. “The Diamond” continued to swarm with offense, landing at will until the notoriously resilient Alvarez could fight back no more.

Poirier has lost just once in his last 10 Octagon appearances, but he is well aware that naysayers will point to the restart that occurred as a result of a foul that didn’t give Alvarez a clear advantage.

“People are always going to point to something, Poirier said. “These checks are going to cash. And I have another win on my record, and another step closer to fighting for the world title. So they can point and say what they want. I’m laughing all the way to the bank and all the way back home to my family with another win that’s been earned. Nothing’s been given and that’s that, man.”

On the other hand, one could question Alvarez’s tactics in the two bouts with Poirier, although in the heat of action, sometimes judgment can be skewed. Still, Poirier said it wasn’t just the illegal knee and elbow that stood out. Twice the American Top Team representative went for guillotines in the fight, and on one occasion he claims Alvarez had a questionable method of defense.

“The weird thing is, when I had him in the guillotine, he stuck his finger in my ear and was pulling me down and the ref warned him,” Poirier said. ”And he put his finger right back in my ear. So, this is an old dog that knows a lot of tricks.

“I don’t want to say somebody’s a dirty fighter. But the first fight, you kneed me; the second fight, you tried to elbow me illegally and you gave me a wet willy. We’ve got to draw the line somewhere.”

The bout was the final fight on Alvarez’s current UFC contract. While the two combatants had tension between them leading up to the bout and in the immediate aftermath, Poirier said they established a mutual respect once things calmed down after the fight. Wherever Alvarez goes next, Poirier will be an interested observer when his rival steps into the cage.

There’s still a lot of fun fights [for him]. I’m a fun of the guy for a long time, back to his fights in Dream,” Poirier said. “I was so excited when him and Justin Gaethje got announced. I was upset it wasn’t me fighting Eddie, but I was excited for that fight because I’m a fan of this sport. But only Eddie knows what’s next. Maybe there’s more money, better opportunities for him out there, but I’ll be watching him wherever he goes.”