Dustin Poirier was left stunned by Paddy Pimblett’s stoppage win over Michael Chandler on Saturday night.
Pimblett put on a career-best showing as he dominated the former Bellator lightweight champion en route to a third-round TKO finish via some nasty ground and pound.
The Liverpudlian broke into the top 15 last July when he submitted King Green in the opening stanza.
He is now expected to enter the top 10 for the first time after dispatching Chandler.
Before they collided in the cage, Chandler was ranked No.7 in the division despite having lost four of his last five fights, while Pimblett placed five spots behind him at No.12 following a six-fight winning streak.
The proud Scouser could now be within one win of a title shot, with a top-five opponent expected to come next.
No.5-ranked Poirier, who previously submitted Chandler in November 2022, was on the ESPN broadcast desk for UFC 314, and he couldn’t believe his eyes as Pimblett closed the show with vicious elbows on the ground.
“Wow, he’s going to stop it,” said Poirier, who was watching the scene unfold on a monitor.
‘The Diamond’ then looked over at ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in disbelief as he placed a piece of gum in his mouth and sat in silence for a moment.
Poirier could be next in line to face Pimblett, depending on what route the UFC looks to take.
Post-fight, Pimblett mentioned the former UFC interim lightweight champion among a list of four names he wants to share the cage with next.
“[I want] anyone in the top four, top five,” he said in the immediate aftermath.
“I want that world title. Laugh all you want. What now? You gang of mushrooms.
“I want Dustin [Poirier], Justin [Gaethje], Charles [Oliveira] or the little posh boy Arman [Tsarukyan] – any of them four.
“I respect Dustin, Justin and Charles. Charles is the biggest legend out of them all.
“And he gets called the best submission artist the UFC’s ever seen. Well, I dispute that, I’m here.”
Poirier hasn’t fought since last June when he was submitted in the fifth round by reigning UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
He has won just two of his last five fights.
