Dustin Poirier knows a thing or two about knockouts, and his initial pick for 2024 Knockout of the Year may not be the popular opinion.
Poirier acknowledges that Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) pointing to the floor in the final seconds of his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje and subsequently face-planting him at UFC 300 is a dramatic moment, but that wasn’t his first pick for the best knockout in 2024.
“The Diamond” thinks featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) becoming the first fighter to knock out Holloway, as he did at UFC 308 in October, tops it.
“For me personally, it’s got to be Topuria knocking out Max,” Poirier said on ESPN’s “Good Guy/Bad Guy” show with Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen. “Max is a legend, multiple-time world champion, one of the best guys to ever do it, and Topuria was the first man to put him on his ass and knock him out. That was super impressive for me.”
Poirier has fought Holloway twice in the past, most recently outlasting him in a five-round battle to claim the interim lightweight title in their rematch in April 2019. Poirier landed some bombs on Holloway, but wasn’t able to put him away.
Topuria finally shattering the record-setting durability run of Holloway is why he rates the knockout so highly.
“Just how elusive he is in there but also the guys he fought, he’s never been put down,” Poirier said of Holloway. “Going in there toe-to-toe with Gaethje, I mean the list goes on with me, with Conor (McGregor), with a bunch of guys.
“Taking big shots and always answering the bell, always getting back up, always showing up to the next round. Never really seen him rocked or stumble that much. And to get put down for the first time after 30-plus UFC fights is, to me, Knockout of the Year.”
Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) himself had one of the best knockouts of the year when he sparked Benoit Saint Denis with a big right hook at UFC 299 in March. That would earn him a shot at lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302, but Poirier fell short when he was submitted in Round 5.
Although Poirier initially made the case for Topuria, eventually Cormier convinced “The Diamond” that Holloway’s knockout of Gaethje deserves the No. 1 ranking.
“I do, me and the UFC are close on making it happen,” Poirier said on his next fight. “Hopefully, I’ll have some news for you guys soon. But going back to Knockout of the Year, can I switch my pick? Just now you talking about it, it brought me back.
“I was doing a viewing party in Connecticut, and it brought me back to that moment, and I got to say, I was more in awe that night than I was working ESPN with Chael, and Ilia did it. When Ilia did it, I was surprised. When Max did it, I was kind of in awe, blown away at the way he fell. Just everything combined just made it so special.”
