UFC superstar Dustin Poirier nearly secured rare conditions for his retirement fight.
Dustin Poirier will get a heroes’ sendoff in his final UFC fight later this year against BMF titleholder Max Holloway in New Orleans. It’s rare for the UFC to grant a legend of Poirier’s caliber a hometown booking for a retirement fight, but Poirier’s unique career warrants unique circumstances for his final bout.
Poirier will get one last crack at the elusive BMF championship against Holloway before he walks away from the Octagon for the final time. Luckily for Poirier, he holds two previous wins over Holloway, including in their interim lightweight title bout in 2019.
After initially teasing retirement following a loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302, Poirier pivoted on that stance and committed to one last showing in the Octagon. For his last appearance, Poirier sought to go out with a bang in a unique fighting environment.
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Dustin Poirier had a wild idea for UFC sendoff featuring four of the promotion’s stars
Before securing the Holloway fight, Poirier met with UFC CEO Dana White in Las Vegas to plot his sendoff booking. While most of Poirier’s desired conditions for his retirement fight was granted without issue, one of the biggest ones was quickly brushed aside.
In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Poirier shared how a conversation with White nearly solidified a one-night tournament.
“I was telling [Dana] to do a BMF tournament, and I pitched me, [Justin] Gaethje, Max [Holloway] and [Dan] Hooker,” Poirier revealed.
“Me and Dana sat down in his office and talked about it, but he thought I was talking about a [few months style] tournament, but I was talking about a one-night tournament.
“And [Dana] told me nobody would sanction that. I’d totally be down to do a 10-minute first round if they wouldn’t allow one night, five rounds each fight. Or a one-night tournament, three rounds each fight, there would be too many MMA rounds in one night for a guy…I thought it’d be a cool idea!”
The UFC hasn’t hosted a tournament-style event since UFC 17 in 1998, before White and Zuffa LLC purchased the struggling promotion. Calls for tournaments have ramped up in recent years amidst the crowded title pictures at bantamweight, lightweight, and welterweight.
But unfortunately for Poirier, any future tournaments in the UFC Octagon will take place after he hangs up the gloves. The UFC fan favorite aims to make UFC 318 his last fight after a legendary run with the promotion in two weight classes.
Max Holloway wasn’t Dustin Poirier’s first choice for UFC retirement fight
Before the Holloway trilogy was presented to Poirier, the UFC superstar wanted a fight with one of two other top lightweights for his final fight. As discussed in recent interviews with Ariel Helwani and MMA Junkie‘s Mike Bohn, Poirier targeted a showdown with either Ilia Topuria or two-time rival Justin Gaethje for his retirement bout.
Gaethje most recently defeated Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313 to get back in the win column after losing the BMF belt at UFC 300. Meanwhile, Topuria remains likely for Makhachev’s next lightweight title defense, potentially at UFC 317 in June.
Poirier is looking to regain the form that saw him stop Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 last year. The win over Saint-Denis propelled him to his third career lightweight title shot, before losing to Makhachev last June.