After illegal knees brought their first meeting to a controversial end, Poirier was more determined than ever to answer the call in the rematch and that’s exactly what he accomplished.
Poirier put a blistering pace on Alvarez by not only showcasing his incredible striking arsenal, but also staying patient in the face of a potential firefight. Alvarez definitely gave everything he could to turn the tide, but in the end, Poirier was just too much.
In the final exchange, Poirier blasted Alvarez with a straight punch that sent the former champion teetering back towards the cage. Poirier then poured on the punishment with a barrage of strikes until Alvarez finally crumbled to the mat and the referee stopped the fight.
While this was a highly anticipated rematch, savvy fantasy players definitely had the result pegged, with 70 percent picking Poirier to win and another 69 percent correctly predicting that he would win by knockout.
In the co-main event, Jose Aldo got back on track with a highlight reel knockout over highly touted featherweight contender Jeremy Stephens. After a back and forth war early, Aldo unleashed a body shot that absolutely decimated Stephens and sent him crashing to the canvas. Aldo followed up with a few more shots before the fight was stopped in the first round.
Going into the fight, Aldo was actually a slight underdog according to fantasy players, with 43 percent picking him to win. The players who did pick Aldo will also enjoy an extra 120-point bonus because this was such a tight matchup on paper.
Another former champion also returned to the win column on Saturday night, as Joanna Jedrzejczyk out struck Tecia Torres for the better part of three rounds while showing off her tremendous grappling defense to earn a unanimous decision.
Jedrzejczyk was actually the biggest favorite on the entire card, with an overwhelming 89 percent of fantasy players picking her to win, with another 70 percent predicting the decision victory.
In the opening bout on the main card, Alex Hernandez picked up his second UFC victory with a stifling performance over highly touted Canadian grappler Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Hernandez was a heavy underdog going into the fight, with just 23 percent of fantasy players picking him to win, but the upstart contender has now taken out two legit opponents in a row with Aubin-Mercier and Beneil Dariush in consecutive fights.
Canadian favorite Jordan Mein capped off the prelims with a unanimous decision victory over Alex Morono, with 72 percent of fantasy players picking him to win.
Calgary’s own Hakeem Dawodu got back on a winning track with a dominant striking performance against Austin Arnett in front of his hometown crowd. Dawodu was one of the biggest favorites on the preliminary card, with 83 percent of fantasy players picking him to win.
Another heavy favorite to get the job done on Saturday night was Russian standout Islam Makhachev, who made short work of Canadian veteran Kajan Johnson in their lightweight clash. Makhachev earned a first round submission to get the win after 83 percent of fantasy players correctly predicted his victory.
Ion Cutelaba put on one of the most impressive performances of his career as he dished out a vicious TKO to highly touted light heavyweight prospect Gadzhimurad Antigulov. Cutelaba was punishing with his striking attacks from the first minute until the last, and fantasy players had faith in him, with 69 percent picking the Moldavian to win.
On the early prelims, John Makdessi put on a striking display against fellow UFC veteran Ross Pearson in a three-round war in the lightweight division. Makdessi was a slight favorite going into the fight, with 60 percent of fantasy players picking him to win, and he definitely got the job done.
Flyweight contender Katlyn Chookagian also picked up a statement win on Saturday night as she edged out former UFC title challenger Alexis Davis by unanimous decision. While she was actually the lower ranked fighter in the fight, Chookagian still had the majority of fantasy players on her side, with 65 percent picking her to win.
Dustin Ortiz also picked up a huge win on the early prelims as he stunned Matheus Nicolau with a huge head kick before finishing the fight with strikes on the ground in the opening round. Ortiz was a heavy favorite going into the card, with 71 percent of fantasy players picking him to win, and now he’s secured his third win in a row.
By the end of the night, nine favorites were victorious according to the selections made by fantasy players, with a total of just four upsets all night at UFC Fight Night: Alvarez vs. Poirier.
