Yves Edwards reveals Dustin Poirier entered UFC 302 with injured ribs and hadn’t grappled for over two weeks

Dustin Poirier entered his UFC 302 title fight against Islam Makhachev with a rib injury that impacted his training camp.

Former UFC fighter Yves Edwards who trained at American Top Team, said that Poirier had hurt his ribs just before UFC 302 which made him unable to train grappling for over two weeks before his third crack at the UFC title.

"[Dustin Poirier] hadn't wrestled or grappled for like two and half weeks."@thugjitsumaster reveals an injury that Dustin Poirier suffered in training 2 weeks before #UFC302

Source: MMA Today with @RJcliffordMMA pic.twitter.com/TwpkLddKuP

— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) June 3, 2024

“The way he performed Saturday night, man, that was super impressive to me and nobody knows this, and he’s probably gonna be like ‘Why did you put that out there’ I know Makhachev wasn’t 100 percent, nobody goes into a fight 100 percent, he hurt his ribs like two weeks before the fight and hadn’t wrestled or grappled for two, two-and-a-half weeks. I probably shouldn’t (say it) but to me, it’s more impressive. Against that guy, like you wrestled against that guy with hut ribs, okay, I’m impressed,” Yves Edwards said on MMA Today on Sirius XM.

Edwards says the rib injury was something that wasn’t going to pull Poirier from the fight but it did limit his training for Makhachev. But, despite that, Edwards was impressed with Dustin Poirier and his ability to fight through the injury and have the success he had in the fight as he did defend nine takedowns.

Although Yves Edwards was impressed with the way Dustin Poirier fought, ‘The Diamond’ ended up losing by fifth-round submission, and after the loss, he hinted at UFC 302 being his final fight.

“I mean I know I can compete with the best of these guys. It’s just like if I do fight again, what am I fighting for? Just to fight? I’ve done that 50 times,” Poirier said in post-fight interview. “I don’t know, I got a beautiful girl I love and I gotta see. I think this could be it honestly.”

If Poirier does retire, he will end his career with a record of 30-9 and one No Contest. He’s the former interim lightweight champ and holds notable wins over Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway, and Michael Chandler among others.