Dustin Poirier is now just under a month away from his final fight in the UFC after an incredible career in the promotion.
On July 19, the former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier will make his final walk to the UFC Octagon when he takes on Max Holloway for the UFC BMF title at UFC 318.
The last time ‘The Diamond’ competed in the cage was last June when he took on Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 302, and following a crushing loss, he decided his title aspirations had finally come to an end.
Poirier and Holloway have clashed on two previous occasions with their first meeting having come back in 2012 when Poirier almost snapped 19-year-old Max Holloway’s arm in half.
Dana White claims UFC 318 was made purely for Dustin Poirier
The last time Poirier competed in his hometown was back in 2015 when he ran through another Hawaiian in Yancy Medeiros.
Despite this being ‘The Diamond’s’ final fight in the sport, Holloway has other ideas as he is hoping that a win over Poirier will put him in line for the next lightweight title fight against either Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira.
Although Dana White‘s goal for the UFC is to hold an event in every single location possible, he knew that once Poirier had decided his next fight would be his final one, he had to take the promotion back to Louisiana.
“Listen, I like to take the UFC to places that are a destination where people like to go, great hotels, lots of other things to do, restaurants, shopping, and New Orleans is one of the absolute best so it’s good to be back,” White told WDSU News.
“Throughout the world Dustin Poirier is a big star for us, he’s accomplished a lot in the sport and this is for him, to be honest with you, this is for him. He wanted to have his last fight and end his career in New Orleans so here we are.
“He’s ranked number five in the world right now in the lightweight division and he’s a guy who has held his position in the top 10 in the sport for a very long time, he’s achieved a lot, he’s one of the all-time greats,” White continued.
Dustin Poirier talks about big life change ahead of emotional UFC retirement
Ahead of what will be an extremely emotional send off for one of the most entertaining fighters of all time, the 36-year-old has detailed a huge life change ahead of UFC 318.
“Yeah (this is my retirement fight), this is the last one. 19 years in, man. Had my first cage fight in 2007, my wife’s pregnant right now. I have a daughter and now my wife’s pregnant with a boy so there’s a lot going on man and I’ve been fighting for a long time,” Poirier said during a conversation in his gym.
Win or lose on July 19, Poirier is likely set to get one of the loudest pops ever in the UFC, fighting in front of his fans for one final time.