Alvarez, Poirier apparently to get rematch
The UFC had a one word reply to Dustin Poirier when he called for a rematch with Eddie Alvarez.
The new UnUnified Rules around knees have now twice marred big fights.
The UFC 210 co-main events ended controversially, with Chris Weidman being told by referee Dan Miragliotta that he had five minutes to recover from an illegal knee. Weidman had two hands on the ground, meaning he could not be kneed in the head. However, opponent Gegard Mousasi yanked Weidman up until one hand left the ground, and then kneed him, something the referee missed. Miragliotta then told Weidman he had been illegally kneed, and he had five minutes to recover.
If the ref had determined it was an accidental knee, then the fight would have been a No Contest; if the knee was thrown knowing Weidman was down, then Weidman would have won. Weidman was thus led to believe that if he could not continue, he would win. Next, the fight doctor determined that Weidman could not continue. In the meantime, John McCarthy had seen the replay and told Miragliotta it was legal. Mousasi was ultimately declared the winner.
Despite the controversy, the UFC did not appear inclined to schedule a rematch.
At UFC 211 there was another controversy. Despite voting in favor of the new definition of down last summer, Texas had yet to institute it. Under the old rules, if a single finger is in physical contact with the ground, then a fighter is down.
Poirier was down according to the rules in Texas, and Alvarez landed two knees. Then Poirier was down under any rule set, and the hardest knee landed. Eddie Alvarez is known as a clean fighter, and would not try to foul, but he did, clearly, and acknowledged it during the in-Octagon, post-fight interview.
However, referee Herb Dean determined that the knees were accidental, and a No Contest was declared. Poirier said he would file a protest with the commission, which is highly unlikely to succeed. Both fighters wanted to do it again, but there was some concern that given the precedent set at UFC 210, the UFC might go on, and book other fighters for Alvarez and Poirier. However, a rematch does appear to be the UFC’s intention.
https://twitter.com/DustinPoirier/status/863613410151452672https://twitter.com/ufc/status/864583840894828544https://twitter.com/DustinPoirier/status/864579764996145152https://twitter.com/Ealvarezfight/status/864583168074153984
So that’s one more good fight coming up, and with the “you wanted out” line, the trash talk has begun.