Fighters React to Michael Johnson’s Blistering KO of Dustin Poirier

By Tom Taylor - September 18, 2016

Last night, the UFC touched down in the small border town of Hidalgo, Texas with UFC Fight Night 94. In the evening’s main event, former featherweight contender Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier looked to improve to 5-0 since returning to lightweight. His opportunity to do so came against long-time lightweight contender Michael “The Menace” Johnson, who entered the bout with back-to-back losses to Nate Diaz and Beneil Dariush in his wake.

Dustin Poirier Michael Johnson

Though Johnson was considered a slight underdog by oddsmakers in advance of the fight, he ultimately came out in the first round, flattening his streaking foe with a blistering two-punch salvo, and burying him with ground and pound. The end came at the 1:35 mark of the first frame, making it the second fastest win of the night.

Here’s how the MMA community reacted to Johnson’s fantastic knockout win, the trash-talk that he hurled at Poirier after the win, and the fact that that referee Dan Miragliotta lost his shoe in the chaos of it all.

https://twitter.com/GilbertDurinho/status/777367968489541632

https://twitter.com/LDV_TheSwarm/status/777367167457263616

https://twitter.com/BrianStann/status/777366372481236992

With the win, Johnson returns to the win-column after his losses to Diaz and Dariush. He’s now 17-10 overall – a record that is hardly indicative of his skill. As the Tweets above show, he now has some interesting suitors on his trail in former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks, and former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis – just the kinds of big fights he seems to be after.

Poirier, meanwhile, comes up short for the first time since he was smoked by Conor McGregor in late 2014.  This is his first loss in the lightweight division since he came up short opposite Danny Castillo at WEC 50 in 2010. “The Diamond” will return to his home at American Top Team with an overall record of 20-5.

Were you impressed by Michael Johnson’s performance in Hidalgo? Who would you like to see “The Menace” take on next? Sound off, PENN nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Michael Johnson