UFC star Dustin Poirier was "tapped out" during a grappling match with former World's Strongest Man winner Brian Shaw.
'The Diamond' has yet to compete in the UFC in 2022, and has not fought in the octagon since losing in his title challenge against Charles Oliveira last December. Poirier is eyeing redemption at 155lb and is set to rekindle his title hopes in an upcoming clash with fellow contender Michael Chandler on the undercard of UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden next Saturday night.
Poirier has been preparing in training camp for the clash and has even spent time with former World's Strongest Man championship winner Shaw, who has won the competition on four occasions. Despite having no prior grappling experience, Shaw came up against his native counterpart on the mat during their gym meeting.
Originally it appeared that Poirier submitted Shaw but in new footage, the UFC star was clearly struggling to deal with the size difference during their impromptu battle. The American strongman was on the back of Poirier before 'The Diamond' elected to tap out after struggling with the sheer size and weight of Shaw.
He shouted "The body weight is just too much" before tapping on the shoulder of Shaw who had his rival in a choke hold. Poirier has since explained he had a good experience despite being forced to end the battle early on. “That’s not the full video, he taps me out later on by just putting his weight on top of me,” Poirier said. “He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met but a huge individual.
"He’s a giant. It was fun, he has no grappling experience, but just his strength and size just to get my legs around him to take his back, to hang onto him, he’s such a huge human being. It was a good experience.”
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Poirier stands at five feet nine inches tall and weighs around 155lb in comparison to his grappling partner Shaw who stands at a mammoth six feet eight inches tall and has weighed in at a huge 440lb at his heaviest. The American will be looking to put any submission defeats behind him and focus on his upcoming challenge against Chandler.
And the 33-year-old believes he cannot make a career-first two losses in a row which could see him frozen out of the leading contention spots entirely. “The division is always changing,” Poirier told Yahoo Sports. "But I’ve always put pressure on myself every fight, especially coming off of a loss. I’ve been fighting for 15 years, and I’ve never lost two fights in a row, and I don’t plan on starting now.
“And I’ve had plenty of time after this last fight in December to work on things to try to get better, to focus, and it’s more about proving it to myself. It’s not about the division to me. It’s about me being able to look in the mirror after the fight.”
