Dustin Poirier has finally got his last dance in the UFC lined up.
The former Interim Lightweight Champion’s been talking about retiring from MMA for several years now, making up his mind that fight #41 will be his last.
Poirier’s retirement admission followed his third unsuccessful title challenge to Islam Makhachev, a hard-fought submission loss at UFC 302 last summer.
Considered one of the UFC’s all-time fan-favorites for his tenacious fighting style and grit, Lafayette’s Poirier asked the promotion for a ‘legends only’ home game in Louisiana for his final walk to the Octagon.
After many months of waiting patiently, Poirier eventually had his wish granted.
Dustin Poirier vs Max Holloway trilogy booked for UFC 318 in New Orleans
More than a year removed from his title fight with Makhachev, Poirier is officially set to return against an old rival, former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway at lightweight.
Though, it’s no ordinary lightweight bout with Holloway’s BMF title on the line in the main event of UFC 318 on July 19th.
UFC 318 is set to go down from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, the UFC’s first visit to New Orleans since 2015.
Poirier and Holloway have fought twice before with Poirier winning both fights. ‘The Diamond’ spoiled a 20-year-old Holloway’s UFC debut back at UFC 143 in 2012, submitting the Hawaiian with a triangle armbar.
Holloway put up a much better fight when he was featherweight champion, taking on the lightweight Poirier in a short-notice rematch at UFC 236 in 2019. Poirier nonetheless largely outgunned Holloway across five rounds, bloodying his opponent to win the interim title by unanimous decision.
Holloway’s 1-3 in his last four fights, most recently losing a featherweight title fight to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in October where Holloway was knocked out for the first time in his 34-fight career.
As for Poirier, the UFC veteran exchanged wins and losses in recent years with the best in the world, with his last win a KO of Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 in March 2024.
Dustin Poirier asked for Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria but the UFC said no
Prior to signing the dotted line at UFC 318, Poirier says he spoke to the UFC brass about other opponents for his retirement fight, one of which was his violent lightweight counterpart Justin Gaethje.
“I was asking Hunter [Campbell] for Gaethje,” Poirier told MMA Junkie of his conversation with the UFC chief business officer.
“Because we’re 1-1 I wanted to close out that trilogy,” Poirier continued.
“For some reason they really wanted this fight. That’s cool because I respect [Max] for my last fight.”
Gaethje and Poirier are one knockout apiece, Poirier having won their first fight in 2018 by KO before Gaethje knocked Poirier out with a headkick in their rematch for the BMF title in 2023.
Apparently, Justin Gaethje wasn’t the only name on Poirier’s wishlist.
The 36-year-old added in his conversation with MMA Junkie: “When [Ilia Topuria] said he was going to 155, I texted the UFC and said ‘Hey, let me know what’s going on with this guy’. But they never entertained it, they told me it’s not happening and they wanted Max.”
Ilia Topuria relinquished his featherweight title earlier this year for a move to lightweight, insisting he’d only fight for the title and nobody else. That seems to be the case as Topuria has begun training camp for what many to believe is his next opponent lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.