Dustin Poirier is definitely wearing it after going nearly five rounds with Islam Makhachev.
Stepping into the main event spotlight at UFC 303 for his third and final shot at lightweight gold, ‘The Diamond’ gave it everything he had, dragging the reigning lightweight titleholder into deep waters before ultimately succumbing to a darce choke in the fifth and final round.
Walking out of the Octagon Poirier definitely looked worse for wear, but recently, the division fan favorite revealed the horrifying extent of his injuries.
“Nose is broken bad, rib is broken and my ACL is partially torn,” Poirier wrote on X.
Nose is broken bad, rib is broken and my ACL is partially torn.
FIGHT LIFE ⚔️
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) June 5, 2024
Needless to say, if Poirier plans to fight again in the future, it’ll be some time before we see him walk back through the cage door.
Nosey O'Donnell pic.twitter.com/4gnZ7kEtUE
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) June 5, 2024
He also revealed that it was an accidental headbutt that caused the damage to his nose and not a knee as originally thought.
“Knee hit my face. It was the headbutt before,” Poirier wrote in response to a fan. “It was accidental, but it hurt.”
Knee hit my face. It was the headbutt before. It was accidental, but it hurt https://t.co/WhAJwfKZhw
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) June 5, 2024
In most cases, a broken nose and rib are fully healed within six weeks. Depending on the damage done to his ACL, he could find himself on the shelf for six months, if not longer — depending on whether or not surgery is required.
Dustin Poirier Went Into UFC 302 with a Rib Injury
As it turns out, the rib injury wasn’t all Islam Makhachev’s doing.
During a recent interview, Dustin Poirier’s American Top Team teammate Yves Edwards revealed that ‘The Diamond’ had suffered a rib injury weeks ahead of his clash with the ‘Dagestani Destroyer,’ leaving him unable to grapple for the final leg of his camp.
“The way he performed on Saturday night man, that was super impressive to me,” Edwards told MMA on Sirius XM. “And nobody knows this and he probably is gonna be like, ‘Man why did you put that out there?’ But like, I know Makhachev was also not a 100%, nobody goes into a fight a 100%.
“But like, [Dustin] hurt his ribs two weeks before the fight and hadn’t wrestled and grappled for like two, two and half weeks. For me it’s impressive man, against that guy. Against somebody else it wouldn’t have mattered but against that guy, like you wrestled like that against that guy with hurt ribs, okay, I’m impressed.”
