In a battle between two of the UFC’s young guns at featherweight, Dustin Poirier and Erik Koch put on a show to kick off the main card of UFC 164. After dropping Koch early, Poirier survived a near fight-ending triangle choke attempt to seize control of the bout on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Dustin Poirier struck first with a big right hand that connected and put Koch on the canvas to open the first round. It was Koch however that almost finished the fight with a tight triangle that left Poirier on the verge of going out. Poirier finally managed to pull free and when he did, it was another powerful right hand that sent Koch reeling back down to the canvas. Poirier then threatened with his patented d’arce choke but ran out of time in an action-packed opening round.
Koch managed to recover between rounds and put together his combinations to start the second stanza, but it was Poirier again that found success with his grinding, grueling pace, as he put Koch on the cage and then to the canvas. Poirier peppered Koch with ground-and-pound from the top, while alternating submission attempts as the round wore on. Koch managed to work back to his feet late in the round, landing his jab but found himself behind after two rounds of action.
Poirier again pressured to start the final round, putting Koch on the cage and working hard to take the fight back to the ground. Koch would be the one to end up on top however, working his way to the back of Poirier looking for an opportunity to lock up a come-from-behind submission. Poirier fought off the attacks as time ran out on an exciting bout between two of the UFC’s young stars at featherweight.
After the scorecards came back, it would be Dustin Poirier improving to 14-3 overall (6-2 UFC) with scores of 29-28, 29-27, and 29-27.