Max Holloway will have his UFC debut on his mind as he prepares to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 318.
Holloway has been chosen as Poirier’s final opponent in the main event of UFC 318, as “The Diamond” ends his career by completing a trilogy of fights against “Blessed”.
The Featherweight legends have been dominant in their division over the past decade and a half, putting on incredible fights with top names like Conor McGregor, The Korean Zombie, and, of course, each other.
Their careers have been entwined ever since Holloway’s debut, making him a fitting and touching choice to be the man to end Poirier’s legendary career in Louisiana on July 19.
While both men went on to become Featherweight greats, Holloway did so despite losing to Poirier in embarrassing fashion on his UFC debut.
Dustin Poirier forced Max Holloway to tap out in the 1st round of his UFC debut
Holloway’s UFC debut didn’t go as he would have wanted it to go, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, he didn’t get to prepare for the fight in the ideal way, as Holloway was a late replacement to fight Poirier at UFC 143.
The 20-year-old Holloway replaced the injured Ricardo Lamas, who himself had replaced the injured Erik Koch, in the fight against the 12-1 Poirier.
The other way it didn’t go as Holloway wanted was that the fight lasted just three minutes and almost ended up with him getting his arm broken.
The more experienced Poirier dictated the tempo, letting an excited Holloway throw some big strikes before taking control of the fight.
He scored a huge takedown just two minutes in, eventually wrestling Holloway into position to latch on an impressive-looking armbar that threatened to snap his arm in two.
Holloway quickly tapped out before any real damage could be done as “The Diamond” handed him a devastating loss on his UFC debut.
Luckily, that wouldn’t be the end of Holloway’s UFC career.
Max Holloway became the most successful Featherweight fighter in UFC history
Holloway bounced back from his debut defeat to “The Diamond” by racking up numerous victories and becoming the UFC Featherweight champion
He won three fights in a row after that loss, before back-to-back defeats against Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor put him on the back foot.
However, “Blessed” soon began the longest winning streak in UFC history, winning 13 fights in a row, en route to beating Jose Aldo to become the UFC Featherweight champion.
| Max Holloway’s achievements | Records |
| Most Featherweight victories | 20 |
| Most Featherweight finishes | 11 |
| Most Featherweight (T)KO victories | 9 |
| Biggest Featherweight win streak | 13 |
During this period and beyond, Holloway managed the most Featherweight wins in UFC history (20), as well as the most finishes (11) and most knockouts (9).
He is rightly seen as one of the all-time greats in the UFC Featherweight division, although he would need a victory over Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC 318 to really cement that fact.