10 UFC Fighters Who Lost To Surprising Opponents

This is the loss that inspired this list.

Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier is one of the best, most thrilling fighters the UFC has ever known. At 27-6, Poirier has been beating top-tier talent for almost a decade now. While he holds wins over Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, and even Conor McGregor, he does have one glaring loss on his record. And no, it can't be chalked up to being "earlier in his career".

In his 25th pro-fight, at UFC Fight Night on September 17th, 2016, Dustin Poirier lost via KO just 1 minute and 35 seconds into Round 1. His opponent that night? Michael "The Menace" Johnson.

You know, Michael Johnson? The guy with the 19-17 record? The guy who greeted Justin Gaethje into the UFC with some of the worst trash talk ever heard in MMA? Yep, the very same.

Simply put, this win made absolutely no sense. But it only takes a brief moment to knock someone's lights out, and Poirier found that out quickly after catching a clean 1-2 to the temples for his efforts to push the pace.

Poirier bounced back in a big way, though, winning 7 of his last 9 (including an Interim UFC Lightweight Championship) and giving Khabib Nurmagomedov perhaps the toughest challenge in his career. Johnson, meanwhile, plummeted hard following this fight, only winning 2 of his last 9 and currently sitting on a 4-fight losing streak.

While Poirier is primed for main events and title shots, the sun could very well be setting on Michael Johnson's UFC career.