Finish #3: Poirier vs St. Denis
Poirier is infamous for his guard, the hillbilly shoulder roll (a term coined by Jack Slack), often referred to as a Philly Shell though it’s not the exact same. But when his opponents try to shell up to recover, or think they can out-brawl him, that is when Dustin slides out from his own shell, shows he can take any shot with his Diamond chin never cracking, and begins his relentless assault.
Benoit St. Denis never shelled up, inviting the onslaught like so many other Poirier TKO victims, but the Frenchman was so radically attack-minded that he forced Dustin to hide behind his own guard for much of the fight. The difference between a fighter like Poirier and one like St Denis, who is still a fledgling in this game, is that Dustin can shell up and still always be ready to counter. It was a hard lesson that Dustin had to learn himself once. As mentioned above, when he ran into Conor McGregor and other top featherweights, a young ‘Diamond’ found out that having a static relationship between offense and defense is simply not tenable against the best strikers in the sport.
That is the same lesson he taught Benoit St Denis in Miami earlier this year. When BSD stormed forward so hard, trying to make Dustin batten down all his hatches, the Louisiana native was ready for the cyclone, and simply got behind his guard while leaving enough space to counter when the opportunities game. Benoit is a talented fighter, but raw, with many openings that exist in his wild, whirling dervish-style attack. Especially when the hot water fueling his hurricane ran low, holes opened up. Each time one did, a Poirier fist would appear, either from a powerful left hand or Dustin’s dominant hand lead hook which is one of the best single counters any fighter uses in MMA today. That was the punch that put out the Frenchman in the end.
Dustin baited him by sticking out a left hand and leaving it in St Denis’ face for a second too long. In many other fighters that would have been an example of taking pictures after a good punch, a flaw which opens up counters for the opponent. In Dustin, his sense of rhythm and timing is so excellent that it was merely bait, enticing Benoit to swing back with his own left hand, opening a pathway that an elephant could have sauntered along. Poirier’s right hook came right down that pipe and spun his foe’s head around with such violence that Denis’ consciousness did not even last until he hit the floor.
