Alvarez vs. Poirier ends in controversial No Contest
Dustin Poirier was down according to the rules in Texas, and Eddie Alvarez landed two knees. Then Poirier was down under any rule set, and the hardest knee landed.
Eddie Alvarez looked to be poised to lose via strikes to Dustin Poirier in the second round of UFC 211. But he kept standing, somehow, and appeared to be turning it around. However, he drove Poirier down against the fence, and landed three knees.
There is a new definition of down under The Unified Rules of mixed martial arts, but 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.
https://twitter.com/UFCONFOX/status/863574164849934337
Referee Herb Dean broke the action and called in the cageside doctor. Poirier said he could not see clearly, so the fight was stopped.
Had Dean determined that the knee was on purpose, the result would have been a disqualification, and Poirier would have been declared the winner. However, Dean explained to Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner that he felt the initial knees were legal (as they would have been under the new downed definition) and thus that Alvarez did not realize the final, damaging knee was illegal. Dean therefore declared a No Contest. As an insufficient percentage of the fight had taken place to go to the judges’ scorecards, so the fight was declared a No Contest, at 4:12 of Round 2.
In a noble display of sportsmanship, the crowd was booing Alvarez and Poirier snatch the mic and told them to pipe down, as both men were warriors, and would simply fight again.
Expect a rematch.
And as an aside, remember when Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear a generation ago? Ratner was there too, assisting regulation. Although unheralded compared with top fighters, Ratner is a pillar of mixed martial arts and combat sports.