Dustin Poirier exacts revenge on Diego Brandao with TKO win

After his opponent badly missed weight, Dustin Poirier angrily got in his face and promised to make him suffer for the mistake. Mission accomplished. After a back-and-forth first round, Poirier found an extra gear and turned on the offense, battering Diego Brandao for a first-round TKO win.

The finish came at 4:54.

The ending sequence was starting by a stinging series punctuated with a left hook against the fence that dropped Brandao. Poirier dove in with strikes from the top and was unrelenting until ref Mario Yamasaki stepped in to stop him.

“Words can’t explain how happy I am,” the No. 6 ranked Poirier said. “I busted my ass for this. I didn’t cut any corners. I got up days I couldn’t move and I knew I was going to win tonight. He would have had to kill me.”

The fight, which was originally scheduled as a 145-pound featherweight contest, turned into a catch weight affair after Brandao’s two attempts at cutting only finished with him making 151.5 pounds. Poirier took the fight after accepting a cut of Brandao’s purse.

“I’ve been working hard and getting better every day,” he said. “I’m young, having fun, living the dream.”

With his second straight win, Poirier is now 15-3 while Brandao is now 18-9 after having a three-fight win streak snapped.