Dustin Poirier's Victory at UFC 257 Cements His Legacy as Second Greatest Lightweight Ever

UFC 257 came and went this past weekend and what a card it was. From Marina Rodriguez's stunning TKO victory over Amanda Ribas to Michael Chandler's explosive arrival into the UFC lightweight rankings, the show was stacked.

Undoubtedly the biggest talking point from the show though was Dustin Poirier's sensational TKO victory over the Notorious Conor McGregor. Heading into the event, it felt like the entire world was against Dustin. Fans, oddsmakers and Dana White himself had seemingly written off the Diamond's chances against McGregor, with many referring back to their first fight way back in 2014 when Dustin lost in less than two minutes. Dana was even trying to tempt Khabib Nurmagomedov back into the octagon with the assumption Conor would beat Dustin and we'd finally get a rematch between the two.

None of this mattered to the Diamond though and Dustin put on an absolute masterclass, destroying Conor with leg kicks before eventually stopping him in the second round in way of TKO. Poirier erased seven years of hurt with the victory and finally gaining his redemption and silencing his critics.

With that being said, having beaten McGregor at the weekend, Dustin Poirier must now be considered the second greatest lightweight of all time. Of course, Khabib Nurmagomedov is the greatest and no one is knocking him off the porch for quite some time, but Poirier has proven himself to be the next man up.

With a ridiculous list of victories over the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker and now Conor McGregor, Dustin has shown he's a cut above the rest. That's a real saints row of opponents and to beat every one of them is a hell of an achievement.

Dustin now holds victories over three former lightweight champions, a former featherweight champion and a former lightweight interim champion. No one in that division will benefit from Khabib's retirement more than the Diamond as he's now primed to ascend upon the lightweight throne and who knows when someone will be able to knock him off of it.