At UFC 318, Dustin Poirier will make the final walk of his Hall of Fame worthy career.
It has been a decade since Poirier last fought in front of his home fans but on July 19 at the Smoothie King Center, ‘The Diamond’ returns to New Orleans, Louisiana.
His opponent, Max Holloway, may be targeting some big rematches but Poirier has been adamant that this is his last dance.
Fighting in his home state against a fellow legend is the perfect way to go out with Poirier even outlining plans for a dream walk out to cap off his UFC run.
The 36-year-old recently provided a major life update which will only make his decision to walk away even easier now that his attention is needed elsewhere.
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Dustin Poirier announces that he’s set to welcome his first son after UFC 318 retirement fight
Anyone who has listened to Dustin Poirier speak about fighting in the past knows that his family comes first.
‘The Diamond’ and his wife welcomed their first child back in 2016 with his daughter becoming a huge source of motivation for the former interim champion.
Being away from his family for training camps has been something that Poirier has spoken about frequently over the past nine years, even when he has been able to move his wife and daughter to Florida so they could join him for his preparations before returning home to Louisiana.
In a recent video posted by Full Violence, he spoke about UFC 318 definitely being the final fight of his career with no plans to return in the future.
When briefly touching on his 19-year career coming to an end, Poirier stated that he and his wife are set to welcome their first son in the near future, which will certainly keep him busy after hanging up the gloves.
“This is the last one. 19 years in, man. Had my first cage fight in 2007… my wife’s pregnant right now… my wife’s pregnant with a boy. So there’s a lot going on, man.”
Dana White confirmed that UFC 318 was built around Dustin Poirier
UFC fighters don’t always get a big, remarkable send-off but that is certainly the case for Dustin Poirier.
Not only did the promotion change their plans to put together a PPV event in New Orleans, they found him an opponent in Max Holloway who fits the ‘legends only’ criteria.
In a recent interview on a New Orleans news show, Dana White confirmed that the Octagon’s long-awaited return to ‘The Big Easy’ was for one reason only.
“Dustin Poirier is a big star for us,” White told WDSU News. “He’s accomplished a lot in the sport. 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.”
On July 19, Poirier will walk out for what will be the 32nd fight of his UFC career.