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...disappoints his fans and comes up short when it matters most. Literally the theme of his entire career going back over a decade.
UFC 178, Dustin and McGregor on a collision course for UFC featherweight contendership. Dustin gets absolutely smoked in round 1 face down ass up, McGregor goes on to beat Siver, Mendes, Aldo and eventually Alvarez to win the title in two divisions. Dustin never sniffs featherweight contendership again, moves to lightweight.
UFC 242, Dustin and Khabib meeting for the lightweight title. Dustin's 5-0-1 in his last 6 with notable wins against Justin and Max (details below). Khabib absolutely dominates him with a mixture of 10-8 and 10-9s on the scorecards in the first two rounds and then chokes him to unconsciousness in the 3rd.
UFC 269, facing Charles after freshly beating the ghost of McGregor twice and the venerable never-champion Dan Hooker, Dustin actually wins the first round and then fumbles the fight away by losing the second round and getting finished in the 3rd round (again) by a standing rear naked choke. This finish has only occurred in about a dozen UFC fights in history, and the only time in a men's UFC title fight to my knowledge.
UFC 291, against Justin who he had already beaten much earlier in his career, Dustin was destined to get UFC gold of sorts (BMF) as a consolation prize to always losing the biggest fights in his career and never winning a title. Dustin wins the first round, and again, fumbles his way to a highlight reel KO by someone he had previously beaten:
UFC 302, Dustin gets another questionable title shot against champion Islam, Khabib's disciple. He gets finished, again.
UFC 318, against Max who he was 2-0 against in featherweight and short notice fights, Dustin loses to him for the BMF title in his retirement fight, again coming up short. When Max points at the canvas to have a final round, 10 second melee to end his career on a memorable note, Dustin gets outworked handily, struggling to stay on his feet and avoid getting finished, and in the last few seconds ties Max up and ends the fight struggling for an underhook.
The thing is, if you look at Dustin's resume, you assume the dude is one of the GOAT LW's to ever grace the sport when you see the names.
McGregor x 2 (former champ) (Lost to McGregor in their first meet when they were both contenders, 3-3 in his last 6 before facing Dustin)
Holloway (former champ, x1 at FW, moved up to LW on 2 months notice, beat Dustin in their final match)
Gaethje (Justin's 3rd UFC fight, great win for Dustin in his 20th UFC fight, beat Dustin in the rematch with a highlight reel KO)
Alvarez (former champ, 4-2-1 leading up to this fight in the UFC, 1-3-1 including this fight and after to end career)
Pettis (former champ, 2-4-0 leading up to this fight and went 5-8 including this fight and after to end career)
Chandler (2-2-0 leading up to this fight since joining UFC, finished 2-5 in the UFC to date)
Heartbreaking as a Dustin fan. Not the individual performance level of Dan Marino or Charles Barkley of course, but still disappointing to have such promising performances only to lose whenever it mattered most. I'm never getting fooled into investing my emotions by this type of journeyman fighter again, so I thank Dustin for that. Today, we pour one out for The Diamond boys, we may never have the chance to be disappointed this many times by a premier fighter again.
UFC 178, Dustin and McGregor on a collision course for UFC featherweight contendership. Dustin gets absolutely smoked in round 1 face down ass up, McGregor goes on to beat Siver, Mendes, Aldo and eventually Alvarez to win the title in two divisions. Dustin never sniffs featherweight contendership again, moves to lightweight.
UFC 242, Dustin and Khabib meeting for the lightweight title. Dustin's 5-0-1 in his last 6 with notable wins against Justin and Max (details below). Khabib absolutely dominates him with a mixture of 10-8 and 10-9s on the scorecards in the first two rounds and then chokes him to unconsciousness in the 3rd.
UFC 269, facing Charles after freshly beating the ghost of McGregor twice and the venerable never-champion Dan Hooker, Dustin actually wins the first round and then fumbles the fight away by losing the second round and getting finished in the 3rd round (again) by a standing rear naked choke. This finish has only occurred in about a dozen UFC fights in history, and the only time in a men's UFC title fight to my knowledge.
UFC 291, against Justin who he had already beaten much earlier in his career, Dustin was destined to get UFC gold of sorts (BMF) as a consolation prize to always losing the biggest fights in his career and never winning a title. Dustin wins the first round, and again, fumbles his way to a highlight reel KO by someone he had previously beaten:
UFC 302, Dustin gets another questionable title shot against champion Islam, Khabib's disciple. He gets finished, again.
UFC 318, against Max who he was 2-0 against in featherweight and short notice fights, Dustin loses to him for the BMF title in his retirement fight, again coming up short. When Max points at the canvas to have a final round, 10 second melee to end his career on a memorable note, Dustin gets outworked handily, struggling to stay on his feet and avoid getting finished, and in the last few seconds ties Max up and ends the fight struggling for an underhook.
The thing is, if you look at Dustin's resume, you assume the dude is one of the GOAT LW's to ever grace the sport when you see the names.
McGregor x 2 (former champ) (Lost to McGregor in their first meet when they were both contenders, 3-3 in his last 6 before facing Dustin)
Holloway (former champ, x1 at FW, moved up to LW on 2 months notice, beat Dustin in their final match)
Gaethje (Justin's 3rd UFC fight, great win for Dustin in his 20th UFC fight, beat Dustin in the rematch with a highlight reel KO)
Alvarez (former champ, 4-2-1 leading up to this fight in the UFC, 1-3-1 including this fight and after to end career)
Pettis (former champ, 2-4-0 leading up to this fight and went 5-8 including this fight and after to end career)
Chandler (2-2-0 leading up to this fight since joining UFC, finished 2-5 in the UFC to date)
Heartbreaking as a Dustin fan. Not the individual performance level of Dan Marino or Charles Barkley of course, but still disappointing to have such promising performances only to lose whenever it mattered most. I'm never getting fooled into investing my emotions by this type of journeyman fighter again, so I thank Dustin for that. Today, we pour one out for The Diamond boys, we may never have the chance to be disappointed this many times by a premier fighter again.
