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Dustin Poirier’s Right Hook
Benoît Saint Denis came into his fight with Dustin Poirier hot off the heels of a five-fight win streak, finishing all his fights in that stretch before the third round. Most of his fights on that run went similarly - he would come out of the gate aggressive, back his man to the cage and pelt them with open side straights and body kicks as they circled, while looking for chances to duck in on their hips and get on top. But Dustin Poirier was nothing like the fighters Saint Denis rolled through in his short UFC stint, and instead of continuing his momentous climb, Saint Denis was treated to a boxing lesson.Southpaws often end up having an awkward time when they’re made to fight another southpaw, as they’re suddenly denied the comfortable cushion of distance the open-stance matchup usually gives them. With an open line straight from the opponent’s lead hand to the center of their body, the fight naturally takes place at a closer range. Suddenly they need to deal with an immediate threat every time they step in to get any work done, and they find themselves falling into boxing exchanges whether they like it or not.
This sort of fight can even be awkward for professional boxers, who are very good at boxing. But many MMA fighters are not very good at boxing, and it’s common for southpaws in MMA to avoid developing comfort in exchanges by using distance to simply limit the amount of exchanges taking place.
The problem for Saint Denis is that he’s skated through his MMA career up to this point without fighting a southpaw who can box, and there’s no southpaw in MMA more comfortable in those exchanges than Dustin Poirier. Right from the beginning the disparity between their comfort and fluidity in exchanges was clear. Saint Denis approached stiff as a board, telegraphing his intentions and keeping his head on the center line, while Poirier was loose and flowy, folding over his hips, dipping below his shoulders, and drawing out shots to counter.
Poirier’s right hook was the shot that ended up doing Saint Denis in, but it also started off the fight for Poirier. He immediately keyed in on the right hook as a counter to Saint Denis’ straight left:
Saint Denis approaches rigid, with little in the way of hip movement, feints, or changes in rhythm to hide his intentions. Poirier reads the left hand from a mile away and pulls his weight over his rear heel, taking his head out of the blow’s path while his hook sweeps into Saint Denis’ exposed head. Note the difference in positioning as the hook lands - Poirier is in a strong, staggered stance ready to follow up, while Saint Denis has drifted forward with his head past his feet and his stance square. He would end up looking to shoot on Poirier’s hips underneath the hook, but his unstable stance made the shots messy and labored.
A few choice guillotine attempts by Poirier allowed Saint Denis to get on top and start working, and the first round quickly turned in his favor. He pushed an incredibly high pace, sticking to Poirier in the clinch with elbows and knees, and looking to duck back in on the hips when exchanges got hairy.
But Poirier wasn’t just standing there to be teed off on. His right hook proved an important tactic to get some respect from Saint Denis and keep him honest while he flurried against the cage:
Saint Denis’ work off the collar tie left a lot of space, and Poirier took advantage by sticking his arm out as a frame across Saint Denis’ face, pushing him back and creating a barrier that held him at hooking distance, then as Saint Denis tried to push forward he’d end up running into the hook.
The lead hook is the perfect punch for a sneaker coming out of the clinch, as in close it comes from the blind spot outside one’s vision, and it can easily be adjusted to land at any distance from near chest-to-chest to mid-clinch range with arms fully extended. Poirier’s classic stonewall guard with his high rear hand, lead elbow projected, and chin tucked behind the shoulder kept him safe as Saint Denis flurried and encouraged him to open up and find ways around the guard, which left Saint Denis open for the counter hooks.
After nearly a round and a half of forcing himself to walk down Dustin Poirier while maintaining a high output, Saint Denis found himself crumbling under the weight of his own pace. Suddenly his strikes were a little lighter, and he struggled to muscle himself into the takedowns as he did in the first round. Poirier undoubtedly felt the fatigue as well, but he’d already been in this position a hundred different times against elite Lightweights.
It’s in those grueling slugfests that fundamentals truly shine. Any great athlete with a hard left hand can look good playing the hammer, but sap their cardio and put them through the ringer, and you’ll find out what their raw skillset looks like unadorned by the bounty of speed, power, and adrenaline. Poirier excels at dragging his opponents into grueling slobberknockers and beating them with experience and sound boxing fundamentals, but Saint Denis was a newcomer to that sort of fight.
Once Saint Denis slowed down, it was only a matter of time before Poirier found the finish. He quickly knocked Saint Denis down twice, his right hook playing a key role in both:
First a jab draws out a sloppy body hook from Saint Denis, then Poirier quickly turns his jabbing hand over into a hook that swipes the chin, followed up by a straight that fells Saint Denis as Poirier slips outside the return. Then a couple seconds later, Poirier puts the nail in the coffin. He throws a left and hangs out with his weight on his lead hip for a moment, anticipating the straight left he knows Saint Denis is about to throw. He dips his head slightly to avoid the punch and pulls his weight onto his rear heel, taking his head back out of the path of Saint Denis’ right hand and clattering him with his own.
Throughout both of the final exchanges, it was simple positioning and comfort under fire that got the job done for Poirier. He kept his feet underneath him at all times, ready to counter, while Saint Denis lost his balance and stepped out of stance. Subtle feints and variations in rhythm allowed Poirier to play with Saint Denis’ reactions and draw out his counters, while Saint Denis remained honest about everything he was about to throw. For Saint Denis the fight was an important lesson on the importance of boxing fundamentals, while for Poirier it was but another notch on his storied belt.
