Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier ends in controversy after illegal strikes stop the fight

DALLAS — The highly anticipated featured prelim bout at UFC 211 ended in controversy after an illegal knee put an end to the fight between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier.

It all went down in the second round after both fighters nearly put a stop to the contest in a wild affair between two of the top lightweights in the world.

Following a strong opening round, Poirier saw an opening in the second that nearly earned him a knockout win over a former lightweight champion when he connected with a hard punch as Alvarez was moving forward that sent him reeling backwards towards the cage.

Poirier saw his opponent wounded and opened up with a barrage of strikes that nearly brought an end to the fight as the Dallas crowd roared with each punch landed. Somehow, Alvarez centered himself enough to counter back with a big looping shot that blasted Poirier and put him on rubber legs instead.

Poirier grabbed onto Alvarez as the two fighters engaged in a clinch against the cage. Unfortunately as Poirier went down to the ground to fight off a front headlock, Alvarez uncorked a trio of knees to the head.

The final shot saw Poirier drop to the mat just as referee Herb Dean rushed in for the stoppage, but not because the fight was over. Instead, Dean paused the contest because the knee strikes were all to the head while Poirier had his knees on the mat, which meant they were illegal.

Poirier struggled to get back to the stool after sitting on the ground for a few moments and it was clear he was still rocked from the shot to the head. It didn't take long for Dean to wave off the fight and call a stop as Poirier was unable to continue.

While the strikes were deemed illegal, Dean declared that the knees were "accidental" and the fight was declared a no contest rather than a disqualification.

Afterwards, Alvarez and Poirier shook hands and both agreed that they'd like to run the fight back at some point in the future following the disappointing outcome on Saturday night.

It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise stellar fight as Alvarez and Poirier truly went to battle until they couldn’t battle anymore.