Dustin Poirier plans final UFC war with Max Holloway 'in true knucklehead fashion'

USA Today

28-04-2025

Dustin Poirier plans final UFC war with Max Holloway 'in true knucklehead fashion'
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Dustin Poirier discusses UFC 318 retirement fight vs. Max Holloway
Dustin Poirier talks to MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn about his retirement fight against Max Holloway at UFC 318 on July 19, retiring with the BMF title.
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – Dustin Poirier has given some of the most memorable wars in UFC history during his illustrious career, and he intends to provide one more in his retirement bout.
Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) will compete for the final time on July 19 when he meets Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in a trilogy bout for the BMF belt in the lightweight headliner of UFC 318, which goes down in his home state of Louisiana at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Over the course of a memorable octagon run, Poirier has participated in legendary battles with the likes of Holloway, Dan Hooker, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje and more. He now senses the mileage from those fights and all the others is starting to catch up, and he wants to get out of the game before its too late.
Fears about the wear-and-tear from his type of career are not present in Poirier's mind as he prepares for his final trip into the octagon, though. "The Diamond" would happily take a quick and one-sided victory over Holloway before riding off into the retirement sunset, but Poirier said that is simply unrealistic, and he will mentally and physically prepare himself to dig into the deepest parts of his soul in pursuit of victory.
"That would be nice to get in, retire clear, go home with no stitches for my daughter," Poirier told MMA Junkie. "But in true knucklehead fashion, I'm going to stand in the middle and trade with Max, and we're going to bleed and put on a show for the last one."
Poirier, 36, intends to hold up for his side of a war, but there's legitimate speculation about how Holloway, 33, will hold up for another one on his end.
After surviving the most UFC fights and octagon time without ever being knocked down or knocked out, Holloway's durability streak was finally brought to an end in October when he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308.
That result has led to questions about how Holloway, who has absorbed the most significant head strikes in UFC history, will continue to hold up to damage. Poirier isn't expecting a lesser version of "Blessed" now that he's been successfully put down and out, but he certainly plans to put his chin to the test.
"Of course those knocks add up," Poirier said. "I thought he looked good on the feet and he kind of had some moments in the fight finding his rhythm. He just got hit with a good shot. This is fighting. You can't recover from them all and somebody spins your chin like that – especially somebody like Ilia with good, tight technique. Maybe it was a shot he didn't really see. We'll find out. Time will tell."
One thing Poirier does expect from Holloway at UFC 318 that will differ from their previous two meetings is his physical presence. When they first fought at UFC 143 in February 2012, it was contested in the featherweight division and Holloway was just a 20-year-old debuting fighter against a 23-year-old Poirier, who scored a first-round submission win.
For the rematch at UFC 236 in April 2019, both men were arguably in the thick of their primes, with Poirier beating then-featherweight champion Holloway by unanimous decision in an interim lightweight title fight that came together on somewhat short notice.
Both men should be at peak physical condition for the third meeting, however, with Poirier having now spent the majority of his career at 155 pounds, and Holloway fully committing himself to the division in the aftermath of his loss to Topuria.
"He'll definitely be thicker, have more power," Poirier said. "You saw the way he looked against (Justin) Gaethje – definitely wore the weight a little better. But Max is a big guy. He could've been at '55 for a while. It will be a completely different fight.
"Our gaps in years between fights is huge. The first one was 2012, then 2019, now 2025. Each fight is a different fight. It's the same guy, but we've been in the gym and have fought so many great, world-class guys that we're both different fighters every time."