UFC on Fox 29 Results: Dustin Poirier Beats Justin Gaethje via 4th-Round TKO

Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier and Justin Gaethje lived up to the expectation that they would put together a classic slugfest. Poirier emerged victorious via fourth-round TKO after an absolute war to close out the show at UFC on Fox 29 in Glendale, Arizona.

The UFC showed the beginning of the end for Gaethje:

The two high-action fighters came out swinging. Gaethje chose to attack with leg kicks early, while Poirier focused on putting together boxing combinations. The Diamond was effective in landing his combinations, but Gaethje remained in his face and cut Poirier's base with leg kicks.

In short, the fight was exactly what it promised to be, as Ben Fowlkes of MMAjunkie noted:

The second round took on the same flavor, as Gaethje continued to make sure the fight was fought at his pace, even if it meant absorbing absurd amounts of punishment. The UFC passed along some of the highlights from the round:

Starting to feel the fatigue from the constant pressure from Gaethje, Poirier did go to takedown attempts, but The Highlight stuffed all of them and the fight continued on the feet.

That's where the third round would continue to take place. Gaethje started to take more control of the fight, as the cumulative damage from the leg kicks finally started opening up opportunities for head strikes. He landed an overhand right that stunned Poirier and highlighted the round:

Unfortunately, a second eye poke from Gaethje mired the third round and resulted in a lost point for him.

Apparently, Poirier didn't like being poked in the eye because he came out in the fourth round looking to end the fight. A sharp left counter while Gaethje was throwing a leg kick started the onslaught, as Poirier kept throwing punches until the end was called in a fight that lived up to expectations.

After the bout, The Diamond announced his intention to challenge for the lightweight title after this victory. With the momentum he'll get from this win, it's about time he is put in that conversation.

The lightweight collision wasn't the only fight worth paying attention to in the desert. There were plenty of close fights that were worth watching on the evening, including another painful loss for Carlos Condit, the continued intriguing rise of Israel Adesanya and a hard-fought win for Michelle Waterson.

Here's a look at the complete results and a closer look at each of the main event bouts.

Main card

Dustin Poirier def. Justin Gaethje via TKO (punches) (0:33 of Round 4)

Alex Oliveira def. Carlos Condit via submission (guillotine choke) (3:17 of Round 2)

Israel Adesanya def. Marvin Vettori via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Michelle Waterson def. Cortney Casey via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Undercard (Fox)

Antonio Carlos Junior def. Tim Boetsch via submission (rear-naked choke) (4:28 of Round 1)

Muslim Salikhov def. Ricky Rainey via TKO (punches) (4:12 of Round 2)

John Moraga def. Wilson Reis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,29,28)

Brad Tavares def. Krzysztof Jotko via TKO (punches) (2:16 of Round 3)

Undercard (Fight Pass)

Gilbert Burns def. Dan Moret via KO (punches) (0:59 of Round 2)

Lauren Mueller def. Shana Dobson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Yushin Okami def. Dhiego Lima via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Adam Wieczorek def. Arjan Bhullar via submission (omoplata) (1:59 of Round 2)

Alejandro Perez def. Matthew Lopez via TKO (punches) (3:42 of Round 2)

Luke Sanders def. Patrick Williams via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Carlos Condit vs. Alex Oliveira

For a moment—even if only for a moment—Carlos Condit looked like he was going back to his Natural Born Killer roots. The New Mexico native nearly submitted Alex Oliveira in the first round before succumbing to a submission in the second round.     

Condit and Oliveira engaged in a fast-paced grappling battle early in the first. Oliveira—who took the fight on short notice for an injured Matt Brown—was aggressive in going for the clinch and takedowns. However, Condit's guard was as slick as ever, as he was able to sweep the Cowboy into dominant position.

Condit ended the first frame with a promising rear-naked choke attempt, but Oliveira was able to survive and make it to a second round.

It was there that the Brazilian was able to officially turn the tide in his favor. In another quick scramble on the ground, Oliveira rang home a sharp upkick that stunned Condit. An opportunistic Oliveira locked in a standing guillotine and worked it until he was able to draw the tap.

It's a huge win for Oliveira. His most recent outing took him out of the welterweight rankings after he lost to Yancy Medeiros.

For Condit this is another disappointing performance to add to a rough four-fight losing streak. Perhaps another try at fighting Matt Brown will be what he needs to get back into the win column.

Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori

In his UFC debut, Israel Adesanya put the middleweight division on notice with a spectacular knockout of Rob Wilkinson. His second trip out was successful, but he had to work a bit more for it. The flashy striker scored a split-decision victory against Marvin Vettori.

Adesanya showcased some of the slick striking that has the UFC pushing him. He was smooth, quick and creative, negating Vettori's aggression with good head movement and efficient striking.

UFC India showed off some of his matrix style defense and counterstriking:

Vettori did show some holes in Adesanya's game. He scored two takedowns and controlled much of the third round. The Last Stylebender was able to work to his feet but needed the referee to step in to disengage from the clinch.

The result was a performance that should keep Adesanya's hype train going without building up much more steam than it already had.

Although it was a strong win, it was the first time that the Nigerian has gone to a decision.

Cortney Casey vs. Michelle Waterson

Fans of grappling had to love the chess match that took place between Cortney Casey and Michelle Waterson. The Karate Hottie used her wrestling skills to narrowly edge out Casey on the scorecards via a split decision to kick off the main card.

The decision was certainly an interesting one, as Waterson was able to spend much of the second round in top position but continually had to defend submission attempts from Casey. The UFC passed along just one of the armbar attempts Waterson fended off:

It was definitely a tough decision for the judges to make, as Waterson was in control more often, but it appeared Casey did more damage. Bloody Elbow made the case for Casey:

This was a much-needed win for Waterson. The 32-year-old had lost back-to-back fights heading into this one. Defeating the No. 10 Casey should be enough to keep her in the top 10 of the women's strawweight division.