The UFC’s lightweight title was up for grabs this weekend. All-time fan favorite, Dustin Poirier, was competing for undisputed UFC gold for a third time. His opponent was the division’s boogeyman, Islam Makhachev.

Many claimed this fight was destined in the lead-up. The end of Dustin’s fated path to arrive at gold. As the cliché goes, fate is a cruel mistress.

The analysis heading into UFC 302 was steered by one simple analytical questions. Could the grappler, Makhachev, take down the thudding striker, Poirier? Furthermore, would Poirier try to jump into the guillotine choke on Makhachev.

Poirier has the reckless habit of regularly jumping guillotines. Despite his many attempts, he’s never finished a single one as a professional.

Poirier even tried the guillotine on Makhachev’s teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. He found himself exhausted, eating elbows for his trouble.

Makhachev has some of the slickest cage wrestling in the game. If he can’t take you down off the shot, he’ll climb to a better position to turn you into throws and trips.

But wrestling and takedowns don’t score on their own. While Poirier was taken down, we should have been asking, what could Makhachev do with his dominant positions? Not much.

When Poirier was on the bottom, he defended Makhachev’s submission attempts carefully. He gave little space in back mount and prevented Makhachev’s rear naked choke attempts. He was even able to work through Makhachev’s arm bar attempt in the second round.

Importantly, Poirier’s coaches told him to stay off the fence. They claimed he could stop Makhachev’s takedowns there, or at least use the extra space to get out of his grips. They were right.

Poirier used the time between grappling exchanges to hit Makhachev. Makhachev was able to answer back with well-timed punches of his own, but the optics largely favored Poirier. He was the one chasing Makhachev, getting in his face, and cutting him up.

The fight was closer than expected. Poirier had his swagger, Islam’s face was bleeding badly, and one judge even had it tied going into the final round! The crowd was urging Poirier to live up to his destiny.

With three minutes left in the contest, Makhachev was in on another takedown. This one in the center of the cage with Poirier turning to escape again. Makhachev turned his escape attempt into one of the slickest takedown finishes you’ll ever see.

This takedown finish opens your opponent’s hips in a way that plants them down, or violently makes them turn away. Let’s take a look.

Makhachev sprinted up to Poirier like a rabid dog. He jumped onto Poirier with the challenger’s favorite submission attempt, a guillotine. He used that to sweep Poirier, lock up a d’arce, and choke him unconscious.

Poirier has a reputation for jumping guillotine chokes. This comes against the advice of everyone in his corner, but many were still wondering if he would try it against Makhachev. It was a breath of fresh air that he opted to counter wrestle instead. That counter wrestling probably kept him in the fight.

If fate is real, she’s a cruel, ironic bitch for giving Makhachev a guillotine in his winning submission chain on Poirier.

I’m a materialist. I don’t believe in fate, destiny, or magical forces. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Poirier did in fact live up to his destiny on Saturday night.

I’m not saying Poirier is a loser. Far from it. His resume is basically a who’s who of the most violent and exciting lightweights ever. Poirier beat Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Petties, Max Holloway, and Conor McGregor. He even took home an interim title.

So it’s not to say that Poirier is incapable of being a champion. It’s that Poirier’s career will remain a reminder that you don’t have to compromise your integrity to win the fight game. It doesn’t matter that Poirier never won an undisputed title. The boy from the bayou debuted in the UFC at 21 and bled into manhood inside the cage. In the process he started his family and accumulated generational for them.

Poirier used his post-fight speech to say he might be done fighting. Then he went on to thank the women in his life. He praised his grandma, mother, wife, and daughter for making his life possible.

In a sport where people claim they need to ‘sell the fight’, Poirier got paid more than most and he never sold out. We should applaud any athlete goes out on their shield with their integrity in tact.

Even Islam Makhachev acknowledged Poirier is a legend before walking out of the cage with UFC gold. After the win, Makhachev holds the record for most consecutive wins at lightweight at thirteen.

Fans often label Makhachev a lesser version of his elder teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov. As Makhachev’s win streak extends and their styles continue to differentiate, we’re forced to acknowledge them as a monster with two distinct heads.

Makhachev used his post-fight interview to say he wanted to move up to challenge for the welterweight title. The current champion, Leon Edwards, looks to be uniquely challenging for Makhachev. If the lightweight can make good on his desire to claim a second title, he would be in a realm all his own.