5 biggest takeaways from UFC 269: Dustin Poirier’s crossroads, Amanda Nunes’ off night

What mattered most at UFC 269 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …

1. How long can Charles Oliveira stay on top?

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[autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] is deserving of his complete and full due at this point. Ten straight wins, nine finishes, and now a first lightweight title defense after submitting Dustin Poirier in the third round of their main event clash.

It’s been a hell of a run for the Brazilian, and the days of Oliveira (32-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) being a one-dimensional submission artist with questionable durability are so far removed that such a description is essentially unbelievable at this point. It’s a truly remarkable evolution that we’ve witnessed from “Do Bronx,” and there are few more dangerous men on the UFC roster right now.

It’ll be fascinating to see how long Oliveira can keep this streak alive. The 155-pound division is filled with absolute killers, and Oliveira’s reward for beating Poirier is what? How about a fight with Justin Gaethje. If he gets through that, then it’ll be a matchup against the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Beneil Dariush. Then most certainly another big threat after that.

If the situation arises where Oliveira gets through those people and is still holding that strap in a year or two, we’re going to be talking about him as one of the legitimate greats the sport has ever seen. He belongs in that conversation already, to be frank, but there’s an opportunity on the table to rise to the top of it.

2. Dustin Poirier's career crossroads

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It’s difficult not to be heartbroken for [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] after seeing him fall short of his ultimate goal to become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. It was within his grasps in the first round when he dropped Oliveira, but then things unraveled and he was caught in a submission.

As he always does, Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) showed up at the post-fight press conference and faced the music of his failure. He offered the world a raw, emotional look at his mentality after such a massive disappointment, and that’s to be respected.

If he had his druthers, Poirier would certainly rather not have that side of him exposed in the public eye, and he would prefer to be sitting up there with a smile on his face and the UFC belt around his waist. Life isn’t perfect, though, and Poirier knows that as well as anyone.

Poirier gave a powerful quote when discussing the difficult position he now finds himself in. He still has the belief he can be champ, but isn’t totally sure if he wants to put in the work. It was reminiscent of his demeanor after losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019, except now Poirier is two years older, and after picking up two wins over Conor McGregor earlier this year, a heck of a lot richer.

No one could blame Poirier if he came to the conclusion he doesn’t want to spend more time chasing a belt that may forever elude him. That doesn’t mean he should be done, though. There are still a number of big fights for him, from a fourth meeting with McGregor to a rebooking with Nate Diaz to a move to welterweight for a grudge match with former teammate Colby Covington.

It would be unfortunate if Poirier walked away from MMA now and we never got any of those fights. However, his ultimate decision needs to be respected.

3. Amanda Nunes' costly stumble

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[autotag]Julianna Pena[/autotag] deserves every positive word that comes her way after pulling off an all-time upset against [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] to win the UFC women’s bantamweight title. She lived up to all her pre-fight comments that promised to do exactly what she did, but even then, she’s still not the primary story coming out of this fight.

No, that goes to Nunes (21-5 MMA, 14-2 UFC). Outside of Pena (11-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and a few of her closest supporters, no one saw this coming. For much of the first round, it looked as though Nunes was going to cruise to her 13th consecutive victory, but then Round 2 started and her demeanor completely changed.

Nunes engaged in a firefight with Pena and got tagged with some clean shots. Her cardio then seemingly dropped off a cliff, which was arguably the most surprising element of this result. How could that happen? There are some theories.

One has to wonder what impact Nunes’ case of COVID-19 had on her. We’ve seen select athletes across all sports who had the virus say they struggled to get their endurance back to where it was before, and it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility Nunes crashed inside the cage.

Or maybe Nunes’ skillset – both mentally and physically – just hit a decline before our very eyes. Her fight IQ to stand in the pocket and trade with Pena in that second round was not the intelligent move, especially when she was chewing up the legs with kicks and winning with top control in the first round. She got put up against a super tough opponent who refused to wilt, and when she saw that, Nunes’ confidence crumbled.

Overall, it was just a wild thing to witness. Maybe all the above played a role into Nunes’ loss. Maybe it was something else entirely. We’ll never know for sure, but a rematch between Nunes and Pena will provide better context on whether this result was just a product of the insane unpredictability of MMA, or if Pena is actually the better fighter.

4. Cody Garbrandt's fall from grace continues

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It’s still jarring to see how far [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag] has fallen off from his time as UFC champion. It’s been a troubling past five years for “No Love,” and he learned against Kai Kara-France that a drop to flyweight wasn’t the quick-fix answer he wanted it to be.

Garbrandt’s (12-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) chin failed to hold up against the speed and power of Kara-France, who landed a heavy shot early in the first round then swarmed until Garbrandt had nothing left and was put out. Garbrandt is now 1-5 in his past six fights, and there are legitimate questions about whether these career difficulties can be undone.

If there’s anything we’ve learned about the chin over years of watching this sport, it’s that the ability to take a big shot doesn’t regenerate over time. It becomes worse, in fact, and Garbrandt is going to have to face that reality.

What is the solution for him? An overhaul in his fighting style would be a start. It was infuriating to watch Garbrandt hurt, then wave Kara-France in for more. Perhaps different coaching would benefit Garbrandt, as well.

One thing we should be confident in is that Garbrandt isn’t going to pack his bag and leave MMA. He’ll insist on sticking around, but if dramatic changes aren’t made, there will be a lot more rough nights ahead.

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5. Dominick Cruz's brilliant comeback

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Major props to [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag]. He’s had bigger wins on paper, but his victory over Pedro Munhoz is one he should be proud of until he end of his days because it looked ugly for him when he was knocked down in the first round of the bantamweight bout.

That was a moment that truly tested Cruz (24-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC). He could’ve folded up the tent, but he showed the heart, determination and perseverance that’s been a staple of his career by rallying to outpoint Munhoz over the next two rounds and win a unanimous decision on the scorecards.

Cruz now has back-to-back victories on his resume for the first time since 2016, and suddenly he’s once again gaining momentum as a legitimate title contender at 135 pounds. The division is deep and filled with killers, but Munhoz is a win that should serve as a testament to how much “The Dominator” has left in the tank.

It will be interesting to see how far forward Cruz is pushed from here. He’s got a ton of clout around his name and a UFC Hall of Fame-worthy resume. Now we’ll see how much more he can add to it before it’s all said and done.

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