Dustin Poirier to walk out with Lil Wayne at UFC 318
Dustin 'The Diamond' Poirier, one of UFC's most respected veterans, will commemorate the end of his MMA career at UFC 318 with a grand gesture. In a highly anticipated retirement bout, Poirier (30-9, 1 NC) will face UFC BMF champion Max Holloway (26-8) in the main event at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday and will be accompanied to the Octagon by rap legend Lil Wayne.
Poirier, a Louisiana native, began his UFC journey walking out to Lil Wayne's 'Drop the World' back in 2011. Although he has more recently used James Brown's 'The Boss' as his walkout anthem, Poirier confirmed during Media Day on Wednesday that this final walk will combine both tracks.
'It will be a little bit of James Brown, a little bit of Wayne,' Poirier said. 'Yeah, Wayne's walking out with me. I have to (stick with the James Brown song). I've paid the cost to be the boss. On my last one, I can't go that far away from it. I need to hear that. I need to feel that vibe before I fight someone.'
The inclusion of Lil Wayne, a lifelong UFC fan and fellow New Orleans icon, fulfills a promise Poirier hinted at during an April episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. At the time, he said:
'If Lil Wayne wants to walk me out in New Orleans, I'll walk out to Lil Wayne in my last fight and switch it up from James Brown. If he does 'Drop the World,' I'll come out to it.'
Wayne has frequently shown support for Poirier on social media during fight nights.
This fight will be the fourth meeting between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway. Their first clash was at UFC 143 in 2012, where Poirier handed Holloway his first professional loss. The rematch took place at UFC 236 in April 2019, with Poirier capturing the interim UFC lightweight title and snapping Holloway's 13-fight win streak. At UFC 318, they meet again for the coveted BMF title, which Holloway earned after knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 200. Poirier previously fought for the BMF belt at UFC 291, where he lost to Gaethje.
This fight comes shortly after both fighters experienced recent losses. Poirier last fought at UFC 302 in June 2024, where he was defeated by Islam Makhachev, the reigning UFC lightweight champion. Holloway's last bout was a loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in October 2023.
While UFC President Dana White typically avoids live music performances during fighter walkouts, he has allowed celebrity companions in the past. Examples include Jack Black and Kyle Gass walking with Stephen Thompson at UFC 296, and Mark Zuckerberg walking out with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. It remains unclear if Lil Wayne will perform live, but his presence alone is expected to energize the crowd.
UFC 318, available on ESPN+ Pay-Per-View, also features fights including Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov, Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez, Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, and Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber.
Related: Dana White teases Jon Jones, Conor McGregor UFC White House card
Related: 5 best light heavyweight UFC fighters ever
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NHL Summer Splash Rankings: No. 31, Chicago Blackhawks
The Hockey News' NHL summer splash rankings continue with the Chicago Blackhawks. The series focuses on which NHL teams improved the most or got worse so far this off-season in terms of acquisitions, departures, hirings and firings. As always, there are exceptions to the rules – in some cases, there are teams that aren't flat-out worse than they were last season but made significantly fewer moves than they either should've made or were expected to make. We kicked off the series with the Buffalo Sabres in last place. Their defense corps may have improved slightly, but their forward group worsened, and they did significantly less than expected to take a step forward. The Blackhawks also did less than expected. Additions Andre Burakovsky (LW), Sam Lafferty (C), Dominic Toninato (C), Jeff Blashill (coach) The Breakdown: Imagine you're Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson. You're in the midst of a full rebuild, and you start seeing solid development in a talented core of youngsters. To that end, superstar Connor Bedard is leading the way, and he needs some talented wingers to play with. The Blackhawks' big get this free agency was Burakovsky, who put up 37 points in 79 games this past season. We beg your pardon, but is this really the best the Blackhawks can do this summer? He's a good addition in itself, but he hasn't produced enough in recent years to give hope that he'll be the solution on Bedard's wing. The Hawks still have $21.4 million in salary cap space and apparently no high-end players to spend it on. That's what has to irritate Blackhawks fans more than anything. They were busier in past off-seasons, when they acquired Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno, the since-traded Taylor Hall and others, but they haven't found that right line combination for Bedard. They still have tons of room to be active this summer, so the optics are not ideal. It's possible that the Hawks could eventually put newly drafted first-rounder Anton Frondell on a line with Bedard at some point during their careers, but a report by Expressen suggests Frondell is headed to the Swedish League for 2025-26. Coming in to handle all that is Blashill, the former Detroit Red Wings coach who spent the past three years as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He replaces Anders Sorensen, who remains as an assistant coach. Sorensen didn't do all that bad of a job as the interim coach, despite posting a 17-30-9 record in 56 games. At 51 years old, Blashill can still connect with his players and play to their strengths. But like his predecessors in Chicago, Blashill will have a challenging time trying to coax upper-level play out of a lineup that doesn't have the horses to get them playing meaningful hockey down the stretch next year. Departures Patrick Maroon (LW), Philipp Kurashev (C), Joseph Veleno (C), TJ Brodie (D), Alec Martinez (D) The Breakdown: The Blackhawks lost a great deal of veteran professionalism in the departures of defensemen Brodie and Martinez and winger Pat Maroon. Also gone are depth players Kurashev and Veleno. Kurashev actually played decently well with Bedard in the latter's rookie season, with 54 points, but he only had 14 points this past season. Chicago didn't give him a qualifying offer, and he signed with fellow rebuilding club, the San Jose Sharks. Martinez, Maroon and Brodie were all true pros right up until the end, but none of the departures left a massive hole that can't be filled. Eventually, the Hawks' young players should be taking up most of these jobs, and five open jobs on the NHL roster should be sufficient motivation for those youngsters to take the next competitive step. That's Plan A, but if it doesn't work, Plan B could stand for Big trouble. The Bottom Line The Hawks have exciting young players, including Bedard and prospects Artyom Levshunov, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, Oliver Moore and newly drafted center Anton Frondell. The problem in Chicago isn't the future. It's the present. Despite having Bedard leading the charge, the rest of the Blackhawks' current lineup includes either mid-tier veterans, outright journeymen or youngsters still finding their way. Re-signing Donato at a $4-million cap hit is a nice piece of business for Davidson, and the player will have high expectations to take himself and Bedard to another level. But look at their roster as a whole, and you'll see they didn't improve much at all. Let's be clear – Davidson did the right thing by tanking. However, the moves he has made to be competitive while they rebuild haven't been sufficient, especially in the ultra-competitive Central Division. Just because some of their past veteran additions underperformed doesn't mean this summer's conservative approach was needed, even if they're not the most attractive free-agent destination right now. They have picks and cap space to make more upgrades via the trade market, and they have two salary retention slots in case an addition doesn't work out. Is there a potential for a Cinderella miracle in Chicago? Anything is possible, we suppose. But when their biggest acquisition of the off-season is Burakovsky – who hasn't scored more than 13 goals in any of the past three seasons – they won't likely improve in the standings. Their only saving grace at this point is getting the chance to draft Gavin McKenna next year. Summer Splash Rankings 31. Chicago Blackhawks 32. Buffalo Sabres Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Clippers sign three-time All-Star Bradley Beal after Suns buyout
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers have signed guard Bradley Beal after the final two years of his contract were bought out by the Phoenix Suns earlier this week. The team announced his signing on Friday. He averaged 17 points, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 32.1 minutes while starting 38 of 53 games for the Suns last season. Beal shot 50% from the floor, 39% from 3-point range and 80% from the foul line. 'Players of this caliber are very rare, and they're hard to come by,' coach Tyronn Lue said. 'He's been the best player on his team. You can put him in so many different spots and he'll find ways to score: out of pick-and-roll, coming off screens, catch-and-shoot. He can create his own or he can play off the ball. He's a great cutter. He's also a great playmaker who is going to make everybody else better.' The 32-year-old Beal is a three-time All-Star and 13-year NBA veteran. ___ AP NBA: The Associated Press
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Natasha Lyonne Jokes About Comparisons To ‘Smurfs' Role Mama Poot: 'Women, Don't Age In Hollywood'
With Natasha Lyonne joining a franchise based on a beloved '80s childhood classic, the Smurfs star was up for any role. The 2x Golden Globe nominee revealed how she got the voice role of Mama Poot in the new animated feature adaptation, which is now in theaters, and how she feels about comparisons to the character. More from Deadline 'Smurfs' Review: Rihanna And All-Star Cast Give Us The Blues In Franchise's Nostalgic Reboot Of The Cartoon Icons 'Poker Face's Natasha Lyonne & Rian Johnson On 'Completely Gonzo Bonkers' Season 2 & Which Former Co-Star They Want For Season 3 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Scares Up $2.2M In Previews, 'Eddington' $625K - Box Office 'So, they said, 'You wanna be a Smurf in a Smurfs picture?' It's an email, I say, reply all, 'Sure, who doesn't?' I mean, it's not Strawberry Shortcake, but I'll take it,' she recounted on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon confirmed, 'Oh, Rihanna is Smurfette?' Lyonne quipped, 'Turns out, I'm not. I'm a character called Mama Poot. Well, it's okay. I'm older now, and that's what they mean. 'Women, don't age in Hollywood or you'll become Mama Poot.' The character they showed me is a hairball with one bottom snaggle tooth, not even a top (tooth). 'They're looking at me like, 'Isn't this charming that you guys seem so similar?' I said, 'Yeah, no, it's definitely going to help me get dates, I'm sure,'' added Lyonne. 'And guys, it's not about this, but I just want to remind everyone that I have a full set of real teeth. And I'm really proud of that. Not Mama Poot, though!' Written by Pam Brady and directed by Chris Miller, Smurfs also features the voices of James Corden, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Kurt Russell, Billie Lourd and more. Best of Deadline Streamer Subscription Prices And Tiers – Everything To Know As Costs Rise And Ads Abound (Hello, Peacock) - Update The Movies That Have Made More Than $1 Billion At The Global Box Office 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
