Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway first met back in 2012 when Holloway was just 19 years old and making his UFC debut.
After losing in another undisputed lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev last year, Dustin Poirier announced that he would only fight once more in the UFC before retiring.
Rumours then began to circulate regarding who ‘The Diamond’ would fight in his final outing, after Poirier admitted that Justin Gaethje was his ideal last fight with them being 1-1.
Despite that, it was announced last week that Poirier will take on Max Holloway for the BMF title in the UFC 318 main event, in New Orleans.
Their fight on July 19 will mark their third fight against each other, first clashing at the very beginning of Max Holloway‘s UFC career in 2012.
Poirier almost broke Holloway’s arm in first UFC meeting
When they first met at UFC 143, ‘Blessed’ Holloway was yet to compete under the UFC banner, coming into the promotion at just 19 years old and only four professional fights under his belt.
His counterpart, Poirier, wasn’t much older at just 22 years old but he had already began making a name for himself in the UFC featherweight division after scoring three impressive wins in a row.
Although at the time the fight didn’t have much importance other than the fact that it was Holloway’s debut, it was clear to see that both fighters would go on to do tremendous things in the sport, and Joe Rogan even claimed Holloway looked like a ‘seasoned striker’ early in the fight.
Poirier showcased his experience advantage, by letting Holloway throw some audacious strikes before taking over the tempo of the fight.
Just two minutes into the first round, ‘The Diamond’ scored a huge takedown on Holloway, going on to showcase his grappling advantage as he immediately transitioned to full mount.
The Louisianan continued to dominate the grappling position before latching onto an arm of Holloway’s, putting him in an armbar attempt. After yanking at the 19-year-old’s arm and looking like he was going to snap it in half, he transitioned to a mix of a triangle choke and armbar.
Not long after, ‘Blessed’ Holloway quickly tapped out as he winced in pain after Poirier almost snapped his arm in half.
Poirier went on to win an additional $65,000 for his submission win, being awarded Submission of the Night.
The two met 7 years later with a UFC title on the line
Just over seven years later, Poirier and Holloway met for a second time, this time fighting over the UFC interim lightweight title.
After Khabib Nurmagomedov crushed Conor McGregor in the biggest fight in the sport’s history, he was issued a suspension for the post-fight brawl that went down.
And with that, an interim title was introduced to the lightweight division and Poirier earned his chance to compete in it after a five fight unbeaten streak.
Holloway jumped at the chance to move up to 155lb to compete for the title after defending his 145lb title several times after beating Jose Aldo in 2017.
‘The Diamond’ went on to score another win over the Hawaiian, dominating him over five rounds to become the interim lightweight champion.