UFC 208 results: Dustin Poirier beats Jim Miller in grueling battle

Kicking off the UFC 208 main card were lightweight southpaws Jim Miller and Dustin Poirier, and they treated the fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to a hell of a scrap.

Poitier opened the fight with a pair of leg kicks, while Miller dug into the body and threw a leg kick of his own. Miller was in deep on a takedown but Poirier sprawled superbly, then attacked Miller’s body in the clinch. A hard right hand stunned Miller, who connected on a counter left hand. It was a well-contested, tactical, but intriguing first round. Both men scored with big strikes. In the final minute, Poirier was taken down and Miller immediately took the back, threw some shots, then went for a rear-naked choke. Poirier escaped, reversed position, and then they swung away in the closing seconds, much to the crowd’s delight.

Miller threw two excellent leg kicks that put Poirier off balance. Poirier landed a 1-2 combination. Miller was rocked by a left hand and he dove for a single-leg takedown, which Poirier defended. Poirier was able to walk Miller down and tee off with hard, damaging punches. Miller retaliated and was more than willing to engage in a thrilling firefight with “The Diamond.” Poirier tried to fend Poirier off with a body kick, but Dustin continued to rip up Miller with his boxing. Miller was taken down in the final minute of round 2, but Poirier let him up, perhaps sensing Miller was tiring. FightMetric had Poirier landing 66 head strikes just in this round, which was a dominant one for the Louisiana native.

Miller started off round 3 with a clean straight left and then another one. Two hard leg kicks bothered Poirier. Another leg kick buckled POirier and he had to switch stances. Nice right hook by Poirier but a countering left by Miller. Poirier was uncomfortable and limping, but caught a huge break when a Miller kick fell short and he took him down. Miller had rubber guard and minimized Poirier’s offense from the top. Poirier threw two short lefts, and was able to find some space to get off a few strikes. Miller was able to get back to his feet after Poirier tried unsuccessfully to take the back. Miller found himself on his back again and cranking on a kimura, but time ran out and Poirier finished up with some labored ground punches. Poirier’s right leg was absolutely battered and possibly broken, and Miller ended the fight also limping.

Official result: Dustin Poirier def. Jim Miller by majority decision (28-28, 30-27, 29-28)