Diego Brandao admits to stab-gate, says 'scared' Dustin Poirier 'got lucky' at UFC 168

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight up-and-comer Dustin Poirier won his second straight fight on the UFC 168 main card, knocking out Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 14 champ Diego Brando (details) in the waning seconds of round one.

He got lucky!

That's according to Brandao (via MMA Fighting), who blamed his losing performance -- as well as his failed weight cut and pre-fight death threat -- to a car accident that took place before the fight, one that left him beat up and unable to properly train.

His words:

"He was there, bouncing at the weigh-ins, staring at me. I told him backstage 'if you ever do that again, I'll stab you with a pen.' That's what happened. Every time he saw me at the hotel he kept staring at me, and I responded asked what was the problem, if he looking like that because he was hungry or what. When he got inside the cage I saw he was scared. He got lucky (to win)... A drunk man hit my car, and I ended up crashing in another car. I had to go to my lawyer. (The other driver) didn't want to pay the costs to fix my car. I did my best, I was a warrior just to step inside that cage. Any other fighter would just run away, but I needed that."

The loss was just his second since capturing the TUF crown in May 2012 and snapped a three-fight win streak.

News of stab-gate first surfaced after Poirier cleaned the Brazilian's clock back on Dec. 28, 2013, admitting in his post-fight interview (read it) that he was indeed staring at Brandao before the weigh ins because they were fighting and well, that's what fighters do.

Some guys hug and high-five, other guys mean mug and snarl.

Whatever the case may be, "DB" is probably in the hot seat following his antics at the promotion's year-end pay-per-view (PPV) event and will likely need a big win -- sans drama -- to get himself back into the mix.

Do you like his chances?