Daniel Cormier: Max Holloway painted 'a masterpiece' vs. Dustin Poirier at UFC 318
Holloway (27-8 MMA, 23- 8 UFC) retained his BMF title by outlasting the retiring Dustin Poirier (30-10 MMA, 22-9 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Holloway had Poirier in trouble a couple of times and outstruck "The Diamond" over the course of the fight. Cormier was very impressed with Holloway's performance.
"Max Holloway fought an unbelievable fight," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "He truly did paint a masterpiece. He was out there moving, he was out there off the center line, he was out there landing, and he really did show that there's a lot of tread on the tire, and a lot of opportunity for Max to be in contention at 155 pounds.
"His combination punching is as good as we have seen from Max Holloway forever. His power was on display again. He hurt Dustin Poirier twice early in the fight. The one knock on Max Holloway before was that it took so much for him to break his opponents down."
Holloway was able to rebound after suffering the first knockout loss of his career to lightweight champion Ilia Topuria last October at UFC 308. Cormier now sees "Blessed" in the 155-pound title picture.
"Max Holloway is still very viable in this weight class, and I believe that he's dangerous to a lot of guys at 155 pounds," Cormier said. "But the activity was the same. The cardio, the pace, the movement – it was vintage Max Holloway. So, congrats to Max on being the first person ever to defend the BMF title."
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