Dustin Poirier To End Career Vs. Max Holloway At UFC 318 New Orleans
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 01: Dustin Poirier warms up prior to his fight during the UFC 302 event at ... More Prudential Center on June 01, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dustin Poirier will close out his UFC career in a main event matchup against Max Holloway at UFC 318. Holloway's BMF title will be on the line in the lightweight matchup, which marks the third meeting between the two future UFC Hall of Famers.
UFC 318 takes place on July 19 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Poirier announced the fight on a recent episode of the 'The Pat McAfee Show.'
"It's going to be my final fight," Poirier said. "I'm going to lay the gloves down in Louisiana where it all started for me. The whole journey started there, and I'm just honored to have the UFC on the same page and the state of Louisiana on the same page to make all this work. I didn't know if it was going to all come together, but it did."
Poirier (30-9-0-1) and Holloway (26-8) have met twice before inside the Octagon. Poirier joined the UFC in 2011 with an 8-1 record. Holloway first fought for the promotion in early 2012, facing Poirier in his first UFC fight. Poirier won that contest via submission in the first round.
In their second meeting, which took place in August 2019, Poirier earned a five-round unanimous decision (49-46) win over Holloway to take home the interim UFC lightweight title at UFC 236. The victory ended Holloway's 13-fight winning streak.
"This has been a long time in the works, getting Louisiana on board, getting the UFC to even think about coming back to Louisiana," Poirier told MMA Junkie after the fight was made official. "It's happening. I'm super excited. There's nobody else I would rather be standing across from when I lay the gloves down, or when I go into my final fight. Max is a legend. I've got so much respect for the guy. He's done it all right. I was his first fight in the UFC, and he's going to be my last."
The BMF title will be on the line in the matchup. Holloway secured the ceremonial title in April 2024 with a memorable last second knockout win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. The fight marks Poirier's second attempt to win the BMF crown. He fell short in July 2023, losing to Gaethje via knockout at UFC 291.
Poirier has alternated wins and losses over his past six fights. He is coming off a June 2024 submission loss to Islam Makhachev in a bout for Makhachev's UFC lightweight title.
Holloway, a former UFC featherweight champ, saw his three-fight winning streak end in his most recent scrap, a third-round knockout loss to UFC lightweight champ Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in October 2024. The loss was Holloway's first career KO setback.
Poirier is happy to once again be competing for the BMF belt.
"There haven't been many guys (to fight for it)," Poirier said. "Even to get mentioned or have your name in the hat to be pulled for a BMF fight, you've got to be a fan favorite, you've got to bring it every time. You have to be in that criteria of fighters cut from that cloth. That never-say-die cloth. Max is that. I am that. It's amazing. If I can get my hand raised again, retire with the BMF belt – I'm the BMF forever.
"If I can get my hand raised and be the last BMF champion and ride off into the sunset and retire, hey, that's forever. I don't think they would ever do it again unless something crazy happened. That would be dope."
As for fighting close to his hometown of Lafayette in his final bout, Poirier couldn't be more satisfied with how the timing worked in his favor.
This is the dream," Poirier said. "This is the plan. I'm the one that reached out to the UFC and said I would love to retire at home. And to my surprise, they obliged and said, 'OK, we'll do everything we can to make it happen.' It's amazing when a company works with you like that and has respect for you enough to try to put things in motion because so many things in their schedule is booked up for like the whole year previously.
"People don't understand how much goes on behind the scenes. These dates and locations are pre-planned for a long time. For them to scrap something and bring the cage to Louisiana and set it up for me to retire at home. Dude. It's a dream come true."
We will have more on the UFC 318 fight card and Holloway vs. Poirier 3 as fight night approaches.
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