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Dustin Poirier knows a thing or two about knockouts, and his top pick for the 2024 knockout may not be the popular opinion.
Poirier admits that Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) pointing to the ground in the final seconds of his BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje and then planting him in the face at UFC 300 is a dramatic moment, but that wasn’t the case. It’s his first choice for best knockout in 2024.
“The Diamond” believes featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is the first fighter to knock out Holloway, as he did at UFC 308 in October.
“For me personally, it has to be Topuria who knocks out Max,” Poirier said on ESPN’s “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen. “Max is a legend, multiple 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 and most recently outlasted him in a five-round bout to capture the interim lightweight title in the rematch in April 2019. Poirier dropped several bombs on Holloway, but was unable to fend him off.
Topuria finally breaking Holloway’s record-breaking durability run is why he rates the knockout so highly.
“How hard he is to take down in there, but also the guys he fought, he never got taken down,” Poirier said of Holloway. “To be on par with Gaethje, I mean the list goes on with me, with Conor (McGregor), with a few guys.
“Making big throws and always answering the bell, always getting up, always showing up for the next round. I’ve never seen him rock or stumble so hard. And to be knocked down for the first time in over 30 UFC fights is, for me, knockout of the year.”
Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) himself had one of the best knockouts of the year when he stunned 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 failed when he was submitted in the 5th round.
Although Poirier initially advocated for Topuria, Cormier eventually convinced “The Diamond” that Holloway’s knockout of Gaethje deserved the No. 1 ranking.
“I do, me and the UFC are close to making it happen,” Poirier said of his next fight. “Hopefully I’ll have news for you soon. But back to Knockout of the Year, can I change my choice? When you talk about it right now, it brought me back.”
“I was at a TV party in Connecticut and it took me back to that moment, and I have to say I was more impressed that night than I was working at ESPN with Chael, and Ilia nailed it. When Ilia did it, I was surprised. When Max did it, I was kind of blown away by the way he fell. Everything together just made it so special.”
Related
Fighter of the Year: Social media reacts to Ilia Topuria’s UFC 308 knockout of Max Holloway
Daniel Cormier was impressed with how Max Holloway was “floating” ahead of UFC 300 knockout of Justin Gaethje.
Joe Rogan calls Max Holloway’s UFC 300 result against Justin Gaethje ‘the greatest knockout of all time’
“Give him $600,000”: Social media on Max Holloway’s insane knockout of Justin Gaethje and winning the BMF title at UFC 300
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC star Dustin Poirier named 2024 Knockout of the Year
