“The Diamond’s” will receive a homecoming in his last-ever performance.
Dustin Poirier is set to fight in front of home-state supporters at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA on July 19th, having his retirement fight against former champ and long-time rival Max Holloway.
The send-off for 36-year-old Poirier will headline UFC 318, as announced on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday.
The upcoming assignment for Poirier will close out a multi-decade career in MMA, going from a baby-faced finisher to one of the lightweight division’s most respected contenders.
Poirier made his pro debut in 2009 at the age of 20 in his home state of Louisiana. Unlike many other MMA greats, he didn’t come from a background in wrestling, or boxing, or jiu-jitsu. Instead, being a troubled child who didn’t finish high school due to his frequent street fights, he found MMA as an outlet.
After attaining an undefeated record of seven wins, the latter part of which was covered in the 2010 documentary “Fightville,” Poirier fought in WEC before making his UFC debut in 2011.
Early into his career, Poirier had his first-ever run-in with Holloway. The two met in a featherweight bout at UFC 143, a young Holloway’s promotional debut and, odds-wise, a squash match for a red-hot Poirier. The fight saw Poirier catch Holloway in the first round with a triangle armbar for a submission win.
Poirier would continue to face off with many other greats in the early 2010s: Conor McGregor, The Korean Zombie, Cub Swanson, and Diego Brandao among the lot.
It was 22 fights into his UFC run that Poirier finally found himself in a title opportunity. Long after he established himself to have a fan-friendly style, which earned him a healthy win-loss ratio, Poirier was lined up to meet Holloway once again, this time in 2019 for an interim lightweight title.
Poirier prevailed again, shooting down Holloway’s double-champ hopes with a clean five-round unanimous decision result.
Poirier would come up short later that year in a title unification fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, who submitted him in the third round and retired undefeated a year later. The Louisiana-based fighter earned another pair of title shots in recent years—facing Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev—but failed to prevail in either fight.
In between the championship losses late in his career, Poirier put together more memorable moments: Spoiling the return of McGregor in 2021, then beating him for a second time only months later. Shutting down one of the division’s best runs in 2024, stopping France’s Benoit Saint-Denis with strikes. Even in his late-career years, Poirier remained a major player at 155.
After a UFC career that saw him attain the fifth-most wins of all time (22), the fourth-most finishes (15), and the fourth-most performance bonuses (15), Poirier believes that his five-round clash against Holloway later this year is the right time for him to step away.
“I’m going out on my terms, I’m not getting squeezed out of this,” Poirier said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I’m not letting the sport retire me, I’m retiring from the sport.”
Holloway, similar to Poirier, is coming back after losing a high-profile title fight in his last appearance. The 33-year-old Hawaiian striker came up short in a featherweight championship appearance from last October, getting stopped in the third round against Ilia Topuria.
Since that loss, Holloway has stated his intention to permanently move up to the 155-pound division, a class he has infrequently fought in throughout his career.
Holloway has remained one of the top fighters at 145 in recent years, only losing in non-title opportunities. Prior to his Topuria defeat, he had a trio of wins against high-ranked contenders, including a 2024 “Knockout of the Year” against Justin Gaethje, which earned him the “BMF” title he’ll be defending in the upcoming fight.
UFC has spent a decade away from Louisiana, with their last card in the state dating back to 2015. The requested return by Poirier looks to be in collaboration with local tourism boards, similar to the partnerships the promotion has with other states and countries around the world in exchange for a “site fee” payment. Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed yet.
Poirier has nothing to prove anymore, as he is one fight away from officially being out of the fight game. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to take it easy against Holloway. He outlined his gameplan in a recent chat with MMA Junkie.
“In true knucklehead fashion, I’m gonna stand in the middle and trade with Max, and we’re gonna bleed.”
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