UFC 318: Holloway vs Poirier 3 - Jul 19 ???

[wandshogun09]

Dustin’s last dance…

PPV MAIN CARD
Max Holloway©️vs Dustin Poirier - BMF Title

Paulo Costa vs Roman Kopylov

Kevin Holland vs Daniel Rodriguez

Dan Ige vs Patricio Pitbull

Michael Johnson vs Daniel Zellhuber  

ESPN PRELIMS 
Kyler Phillips vs Vinicius Oliveira

Marvin Vettori vs Brendan Allen

Francisco Prado vs Nikolay Veretennikov

Ateba Gautier vs Robert Valentin   

ESPN+/FIGHT PASS PRELIMS 
Adam Fugitt vs Islam Dulatov

Jimmy Crute vs Marcin Prachnio

Ryan Spann vs Lukasz Brzeski 

Brunno Ferreira vs Jackson McVey

Carli Judice vs Nicolle Caliari 

 

 

They’re really expecting Max and Dustin to do all the heavy lifting on this one aren’t they? Shocking undercard for a PPV really. I’d say maybe they’ll add something but I don’t see anything significant getting added this late in the day. Really could do with something juicy for the co-main but this’ll probably be it. Mixed feelings. Love the main event and I’ll be fully invested in that. Especially with it being Poirier’s farewell. I wouldn’t miss that. But the rest? Honestly, if you look at that card below the main event, it’s basically just an Apex card.

 

 

Max Holloway vs Dustin Poirier 3 headlines. For the silly bollocks BMF belt. By all accounts this is Poirier’s last fight. As always, a pinch of salt is required with any combat sports retirement but something tells me this one is gonna stick. Poirier seems to have his head screwed on more than your average fighter and he’s been making noises about getting out for a while now. I think this is it. It’s not the fight I’d have personally chosen. I was hoping for Poirier vs Gaethje 3 myself. They’re 1-1 and I’d have liked to have seen that trilogy settled before Dustin walked away. And Poirier’s already 2-0 over Max so it seems a bit pointless in that sense.

First fight was in 2012. Just a prelim on the undercard of the Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit fight. Max was just 20 years old, making his UFC debut and only four fights into his career at that point. Poirier subbed him in a round. The rematch came in 2019. By that time they’d both made big strides to where they were now headlining a PPV for the interim Lightweight title! Poirier won again but this time by decision in what I remember being a classic. Although Poirier won quite clearly. I’ll have to rewatch both and review them in here closer to this third fight. Haven’t seen either in so long now I barely remember them.

So yeah, Poirier’s 2-0. Not really any need for a third fight if we’re being honest. But fuck it. It’s Poirier vs Holloway! It’s not gonna suck, is it? Apparently, Poirier asked for his last fight to be in his home state of Louisiana as well, and the UFC made it happen. Fair play. They get a lot of shit wrong and make some baffling decisions these days but they’ve at least made a bit of effort to make Dustin’s swansong special for him. He’s earned it. Cool little bit of trivia - Poirier vs Holloway 1 back in 2012 was Holloway’s first fight in the UFC. Now they’re meeting for a third time and it’s Poirier’s last fight. I like shit like that.

Max Holloway had an up and down 2024. Talk about extreme highs and lows. The last second knockout over Justin Gaethje to win the BMF strap at UFC 300 was absolutely barmy and is gonna be talked about for years and years to come. Just batshit stuff. One of the craziest finishes to a fight you’ll ever see in any combat sport. Then he went back down to 145lbs to challenge Ilia Topuria in October and got brutally knocked out. First time Max had ever been stopped by strikes in his career. And it wasn’t just a case of him being ‘stopped’, his chin got cracked proper. It’s a testament to just how tough he is that he wasn’t put out all the way unconscious but, still, it was one of those clean shots that makes you wonder if it’s gonna effect his durability going forward. We’ll see in time, I guess. But it was sad seeing Max hit the deck like that.

He announced after that loss that he’d most likely be moving up to Lightweight permanently. He’s 1-1 at 155 so far. The loss to Poirier in their second fight in 2019, then that mental KO win over Gaethje last year. Regardless, I think it’s a good move at this stage in his career. He’s 33 years old now and, while I don’t recall him having any major issues making 145, that weight cut isn’t gonna get any easier. His chin might hold up better without cutting as much weight as well. We’ll see. There wasn’t much left for him at 145 anyway, to be honest. Although it’s typical that he moves up to Lightweight for a fresh start and possibly an attempt to go for a second division’s title and then fucking Topuria moves up as well. Still, a healthier weight cut and a new division with some fresh fights is probably the right move.

Poirier’s gonna be the story of this show though. His final walk. What a career. One of those few fighters who might actually be able to legitimately make the claim that they never had a shit fight. Honestly, looking back through his record, there’s a few earlier fights I’m hazy on and one or two I don’t think I’ve seen, but I genuinely don’t remember him ever having a boring fight win or lose. And he’s had a few fights that were among my favourites ever. He might just be the best fighter in UFC history to never win UFC gold. Yeah, he had the interim but him never holding the proper title is a shame really. There was just always that one guy he couldn’t beat. He’s had three shots at the belt and lost to Khabib in 2019, Oliveira in 2021 and Makhachev in 2024. He had moments in all those fights but fell short in the end.

Absolute dog. The closest thing MMA has to an Arturo Gatti for me. Although Poirier got closer to the pinnacle of his sport than Gatti did in Boxing. Crazy career though when you look back. The wars with Gaethje, Holloway, Chandler, Alvarez, Hooker, Zombie etc. The forgotten battles with the likes of Pettis, Miller, Swanson, Duffy and so on. And of course, the McGregor saga which ended beautifully if you can’t stand coke addled sexual deviants. The UFC belt was the only thing he never had. Aside from that, he’s had a career most fighters would dream of. There was a lot talk after the Makhachev loss that he might be done there and then. I think even Poirier was vocal about considering it at the time. I’m glad he’s doing this last one though. On one hand it would’ve been kind of fitting for him to go out challenging for the title. But now he gets to go in there in front of a hometown crowd, with a guy who’s gonna fight the kind of fight Poirier’s built a career on. One last war for the road.

“I’m not letting the sport retire me, I’m retiring from the sport. I’m never gonna get another title fight. I’d have to win 10 in a row probably and I don’t think I have it in me. I’m getting old, my body hurts, I can’t train like I used to but I can still scrap. I just want to have a great fight and go out on my terms. When I brought it to the UFC’s attention that I wanted to do it in Louisiana, if possible, they entertained that, I was kind of blown away. I didn’t think they would entertain that idea.”

“I don’t want to leave the Octagon like I did in the Islam fight where I’m kind of second guessing everything. I want to be sure of it. I want to walk into the arena knowing that this is the last time I’m ever gonna feel this. I’m just gonna try to embrace it because this is the last time I’m ever gonna be put in this position and feel these nerves and get to walk out into an arena and fight another man. And what a legend, when they gave me Max Holloway, what a legend to be standing across from. I said legends only and he’s definitely all of that. I was his first fight in the UFC, and he’s going to be my last.”

“I’m leaving a lot of money on the table. I’m making the most I’ve ever made in my career and I’m walking away. It seems crazy but I just want to be healthy and I want to be a father and a husband and be at home more. Just staying busy being the Daddest Man, that’s what I want to do.” - Dustin Poirier

Also saw recently that Dustin’s wife is pregnant with their second child. So yeah, he’s going from Baddest Man to Daddest Man regardless of the result of this fight. He’s gonna be too busy for this shit anyway. He definitely sounds like he’s ready to move on. But unlike some fighters who start talking about retirement and you question if they’ll have the stomach for a hard fight anymore, there’s none of that with Poirier for me. If anyone’s proven they genuinely love a scrap it’s him. And I think him knowing this is his last one, and it being in Louisiana, will motivate him even further to just empty the tank and leave it all out there.

Don’t know what happens here but I’d say it’s probably fair to assume it’s gonna be fun to watch. Not a clue who to root for though. My initial instinct was to pull for Poirier. Him going out on a win, in his hometown, in his last fight, would be great to see. Plus, as much as I laugh at the BMF shite, if any fighter deserves to retire as the BMF champ, it’s Poirier isn’t it? But then that means Holloway goes 0-3 again to somebody, his fresh start at 155 is off to a disastrous start and he’s the one who’s sticking around. A Poirier win in his farewell would be one of my all time favourite moments if it happens. But it does nothing good for the division or Max going forward either. Plus Max is class as well. It’s the ultimate babyface battle this. Whatever the result is when it’s over, there’s gonna be mixed feelings. I think I have to root for Poirier though. If he wins this fight it might actually surpass Robbie Lawler’s retirement as the greatest exit in UFC history. I’d love to see him go out on a positive note.

 

Paulo Costa vs Roman Kopylov was all set to go down at UFC 217 in June but got moved to this card for some reason. Probably for the best to be fair because this card really needed all the help it could get. This should be a laugh. You can usually rely on Costa for a goofy meme fight, providing he’s got a decent dance partner anyway. I say that because his last fight against Sean Strickland was fucking abysmal. I know it takes two to tango but, sod it, if I wanna blame Prickland I will. It’s not like Costa’s known for having snoozers, is it? But Strickland? I rest my case. Awful fight. Costa really needs a win right about now. He’s gone 1-4 in his last 5 with the only win being over last legs Luke Rockhold in 2022. He’s still only 34, in theory he’s still got some time. But I’m just not sure how arsed or committed he is anymore. Kopylov’s also 34 and has a record of 14-3 with 12 knockouts. This is a nice opportunity for him to get a win over a bit of a name in the division. He’s definitely in the better form of the two, although he hasn’t been facing the level of competition Costa has overall. But Kopylov’s 6-1 in his last 7 and the only loss was against Fluffy Hernandez who’s on a bit of a tear right now. This should be entertaining at the very least. Kopylov’s got some nasty strikes so hopefully that will bring out a bit of the old, more aggressive Costa.

 

Kevin Holland vs Daniel Rodriguez has been added fairly late in the day. Not setting the world alight but not a bad fight. Funny bit of trivia on it, this fight was originally supposed to go down way back at UFC 279 in September 2022. That was the card where Khamzat missed weight badly and the main card had to be almost completely reshuffled. Holland vs D-Rod was a casualty of that and got scratched at the eleventh hour. It’s taken three years but it’s back on. Like I said, decent fight. Holland’s 28-13-0-1 now, wildly inconsistent but he has his moments. He’s coming off a couple of wins over Gunnar Nelson and Vicente Luque here. Rodriguez is 19-5 and coming off back-to-back wins over Alex Morono and Santiago Ponzinibbio. So both have had patchy runs of form but they’re both actually coming in with a little bit of momentum here.

 

Dan Ige vs Patricio Pitbull is on and it’s ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** on this card. Wasn’t spoilt for choice on this undercard and I’m not sure what to expect out of this. But it kind of stands out to me for some reason. It’s kind of shit or get off the pot time for Pitbull. Losing to Yair Rodriguez in his UFC debut obviously wasn’t ideal but in fairness he was coming off a year of inactivity so you could give him the benefit of the doubt there. Plus Yair’s lanky and unorthodox style could’ve thrown him off a bit maybe. OK. This fight though, Ige is about the same size as him and presumably more straightforward to prepare for. And it’s a quick turnaround for Pitbull as well so now the ring rust excuse is gone. If he loses this one, it’s not looking good. Could be a fun fight though. Ige is usually game for a scrap and he’s got some power in his hands. And Pitbull’s back is against the wall a bit now. He’ll be 38 in July, if he wants some paydays against big names before it’s too late, he needs to be winning fights like this.

 

Michael Johnson vs Daniel Zellhuber could be decent. Just never know what to expect out of Johnson. He’s been the same his whole career. I say it every time I preview his fights but it’s still so weird to me that he’s got wins over Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson and Edson Barboza. It seems hard to believe now, especially when you look at some of the names he’s lost to. He’s 23-19 now, for fuck’s sake. But every time you think he’s a goner, he pulls a win or a big KO out of his arse and sticks around. He’s coming off two wins here and knocked out Ottman Azaitar in his last fight in December. At 39, he’s on borrowed time. But I’ve thought that for years now.

Zellhuber’s coming off what was probably the FOTY in 2024. He lost a decision in an incredible fight against Esteban Ribovics at the Sphere in September. He’s a different kettle of fish to Johnson. He’s 15-2 and still just 25 years old. Not sure how much he can improve and where his eventual ceiling will end up being but he’s got time on his side. He definitely showed in that Ribovics fight that he’s not the type to shy away from a dogfight. He was on a little bit of a win streak going into that one as well but not over the strongest of opposition. As hot and cold as Johnson can be, and as dangerous as he still is on a good night, Zellhuber really needs to be beating these fading vets if he’s gonna go on to do anything meaningful.

 

Kyler Phillips vs Vinicius Oliveira could be the sleeper on the undercard actually. As the card stands now anyway. You can almost always rely on the Bantamweights to bring the heat and I like the sound of this one. Phillips is 12-3 with wins over Song Yadong and Pedro Munhoz but he lost on points against Rob Font in his last fight in October. I remember fancying him to beat Font but Font wasn’t having it. Oliveira’s 22-3 with 18 finishes and he’s on a five fight winning streak. You might remember him from his UFC debut last year where he scored a spectacular flying knee KO over Benardo Sopaj. One of the best knockouts of last year easy. Since then he’s racked up wins over Ricky Simon and Said Nurmagomedov.

 

Marvin Vettori vs Brendan Allen. Ahhh who gives a fuck? This is a fight that has ‘Apex main event’ written all over it yet there’s actually a real possibility that it ends up as co-main event on this PPV. That’s where we’re at now in this sorry state of affairs. Vettori’s had a couple of pretty fun fights, to be fair. But he’s been basically treading water since he lost his only title shot against Israel Adesanya a few years ago. He’s now 1-3 in his last 4 and coming off a decision loss to Roman Dolidze in their Apex headliner in March. I skipped that whole show so I can’t even say how he looked in that one. But I could swear he was hinting at retiring soon or only having a few fights left quite recently. He’s only 31 but seems half checked out. Allen’s lost his last couple as well. We last saw him in February, dropping a decision to Fluffy Hernandez. He was on a seven fight win streak not too long ago but he seems to be floundering now. These two have a bit of history.

That’s them having a little round of handbags at some casino after a PFL event sometime last year. Don’t know what started it but I guess the UFC being the way they are now, they probably think this ‘beef’ is gonna warrant them getting high billing on a PPV card. As grudge matches go, it’s hardly Tito Ortiz vs Kenny Shamrock is it? Just not into this at all. There’s not much I do like at Middleweight these days outside of whatever DDP, Khamzat, Whittaker and De Ridder are doing. But these two especially, right now it just feels like an absolute nothing burger. They’re both coming off losses, both in dodgy form, Vettori’s thinking retirement and Allen’s confidence seemed shot after that last loss. It’s got all the ingredients of a dud.

 

Francisco Prado vs Nikolay Veretennikov is another fight that’s just there but could be alright. Prado’s Argentinian, only 23 years old and 12-3 with all 12 wins not making it to the scorecards. It hasn’t panned out for him so far in the UFC though. He came in unbeaten but has gone 1-3 since. He’s now coming off back-to-back losses to Daniel Zellhuber and Jake Matthews. Veretennikov is from Kazakhstan, 35 years old and 12-6 with 10 finishes. He’s 0-2 in the UFC so far and just got stopped by Austin ‘Mr VanZant’ Vanderford in Vanderford’s UFC debut on the Seattle card in February. Seem to recall Veretennikov making a bit of a twat of himself in the cage after the stoppage as well. Hopefully Prado chins him here.

 

Ateba Gautier vs Robert Valentin is one of the few undercard fights that might actually be worth specifically tuning in for. It’s all for Gautier though. He looks like one to keep an eye on. He’s Cameroonian, only 23 years old and 7-1 with 6 knockouts. ‘The Silent Assassin’. He battered some fucker on DWCS in September then made his UFC debut on the Mexico card in March and bashed up Jose Medina in the first round.

Not gonna read much into that win because Medina’s not much good. But as first impressions go, it was a great showcase for Gautier on his first night in. Hopefully he can make a bit of a run of it. He’s got time. Don’t remember much about Valentin apart from he was one half of an absolute stinker against Torrez Finney in April. Seriously, if you never saw that fight, consider yourself lucky and leave it that way. Gotta be front runner for worst fight of the year so far for me.

 

Adam Fugitt vs Islam Dulatov. Dunno. This really feels like I’m previewing an Apex card apart from the main event. Christ. I sacked those cards off for a reason! Anyway, going through the motions…Fugitt’s 36 years old with a record of 10-4 and he’s coming off a split decision win over Josh Quinlan on an Apex card last June. He’s 2-2 in the UFC. Dulatov’s making his UFC debut here. He’s 26 with an 11-1 record, all finishes. Hasn’t lost since his pro debut. Last fought on DWCS in October, winning by first round KO. Doesn’t sound bad but I’m just so disillusioned with the DWCS era at this point.

 

Jimmy Crute vs Marcin Prachnio. Yawn. Don’t give a bollocks about this. Both feel like they’ve just been taking up space on the roster forever now to me. Australian Crute is 12-4-2 and hasn’t won a fight in five years. His last five fights have gone Loss, Loss, Draw, Loss, Draw. He drew with Rodolfo Bellato in his last fight in February. Just nothing of note to speak of. It’s weird because he didn’t have the worst start in the UFC. He was undefeated, subbed Paul Craig in his debut and finished Sam Alvey, Michal Oleksiejczuk and Modestas Bukauskas. Then just dropped off a cliff. Prachnio’s just whatever. He’s Polish, 36 and has a 17-8 record. Been on the roster since 2018 and not a thing sticks out in the memory about him. Somehow beat Khalil Rountree back in 2021, which I must’ve seen but have no recollection of. Now he’s coming off a submission loss to Bukauskas on the Manchester card last July. Ham and eggs all round.

 

Ryan Spann vs Lukasz Brzeski has been chucked on here. For some reason. Nobody asked for this. Not a single soul. Neither are going anywhere. Just plodding along aimlessly. Even by the low standards of Heavyweight MMA, this stand out as a nothing happening probable dud. Spann’s 39 years old now with a record of 22-11 and he’s lost 4 of his last 5 fights. He just got knocked out by Waldo Cortes Acosta on an Apex card I didn’t watch in March. And Brzeski’s 33 with a 9-6-1-1 record, he’s lost 5 of his last 6 and he’s coming off back-to-back first round stoppage losses to Mick Parkin and Kennedy Nzechukwu. Yeah. The fast forward button will be doing overtime in this one.

 

Brunno Ferreira vs Jackson McVey has been cobbled together from the rubble of cancelled fights. Ferreira was all set to fight Ikram Aliskerov on this card but Aliskerov pulled out just weeks out from the show. I quite like Ferreira actually. He’s not gonna make any waves in the rankings but he’s not boring. For me that puts him above most of the Middleweight division by default. He’s 13-2 with a 100% finish rate and he’s coming off a submission win over Armen Petrosyan at UFC 313 in March. He also has a first round knockout win over our boy Gregory Rodrigues on his record. McVey’s finally making his UFC debut here after a couple of false starts. He was supposed to fight Sedriques Dumas at UFC 317 in June but Dumas being a filthy criminal put a stop to that. Then he was matched up with late replacement and fellow UFC newcomer Christopher Ewert, only for Ewert to miss weight by 10lbs and get the fight scrapped. Hopefully McVey gets to fight this time. He’s 26 years old, unbeaten at 6-0 with six first round finishes and four of them were ended in the first minute. For a thrown together prelim, this actually sounds like it could be fun for however long it lasts.

 

Carli Judice vs Nicolle Caliari. Whatever. Curtain jerker stuff. Judice is 26 years old with a 4-2 record. Going nowhere but she did score a big headkick knockout in her last fight. Noticed on her Sherdog page she’s from Louisiana as well so that’s why this fight landed here. Caliari is Brazilian, 28 years old and 8-3 with 8 finishes. She made her UFC debut in January and dropped a split decision to Ernesta Kareckaite, whatever that means.

 

 

Me trying to choose a side between Max and Dustin…

Edited July 10, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Bruce85]

This really isn’t a great card is it…. 
 

It will be sad to see Dustin bow out, he’s been a fan favourite for a long time and as Wand said, never in a dull fight. He’s definitely not shot and I think he could still compete at a top level for awhile yet but I find it refreshing that he’s picking now to bow out rather than keep going for the sake of it. 
 

Agreed that Max wouldn’t have been my first pick for Dustins last fight and the decider with Justin would have made more sense but you know this is going to be a banger. I don’t want either to lose so I’m picking a majority draw…. 

[wandshogun09]

This is a week away then. Mostly a bollocks undercard, one of the overall weakest PPV undercards in recent memory for me, but that main event is good for any true MMA fan’s soul. Poirier’s last dance makes this one worthwhile. I think I’m gonna actually set the alarm to watch the main event live out of respect to the Diamond.

I actually watched the Countdown earlier. Which I haven’t done in donkeys years. Seriously, I couldn’t even make a guess at the last Countdown I watched. Haven’t bothered with them in forever. I did for this one though and I’ve gotta say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Give it a watch. 

Obviously there’s no beef between these lads, even with the history there, so the producers basically treat this like a career retrospective for both with interview bits spliced in. It did the job on me. Of course the fight itself was always gonna be must see but watching this it really hit me and reality sunk in that we’re actually just one week away from Poirier’s last fight. Got goosebumps at the end, nothing spectacular even happens but I think seeing all that old footage of Max and Dustin made me kind of realise that, as fans of a certain age and era, we’ve pretty much grown up with these two. Something about watching this got the goosebumps going and that rarely happens to me anymore.

The clips of them both with their wives and kids made me really happy for them as well. So many fighters have chaotic home lives and end up in fucked up relationships, mostly their own fault. But Max and Dustin seem to have clocked the game of life in that regard. Couldn’t happen to two gooder eggs. 

I break up from work for a bit of holiday this week so I’m gonna get fully stuck into getting myself in the mood for this. Definitely gonna rewatch the first two fights so I’ll drop the reviews in here.

[jimufctna24]

25 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Definitely gonna rewatch the first two fights so I’ll drop the reviews in here.

Sweet.

Iirc, the rematch was an absolute cracker

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I’m looking forward to giving that one another watch. Actually don’t think I’ve seen it since it happened.

Just seen some good news for this card as well…

[Egg Shen]

As long as they keep Michael Bisping off the call i'm good.

Holy shit this is flying under the radar.

[Bruce85]

I’m planning on watching the countdown later on for this one to get a bit more hyped for it. 
 

It will be sad to see Dustin call it a day, he’s been a fan favourite for so long, always in decent fights and seems like a nice guy. It’s a shame he never managed to get his hands on undisputed gold but he’s still had a career that many can only dream lf achieving. 
 

I do think Max wins this one though. 

[Egg Shen]

What in the Secret Juice is going on here?

 

 

[wandshogun09]

OK, been looking forward to diving into the first two Poirier vs Holloway fights all week. My memory is a bit hazy on both fights, especially the second one, all I remember really was that it was a barnburner. But it’s been so long since I watched either fight that it’s almost like I’m experiencing them for the first time all over again, except I know the results already.

The first fight went down way back in 2012. It was the days before the ESPN deal, when the UFC was on FOX. And this fight was nothing more than a battle of two young rookies. This was on the FX prelims of a card headlined by Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit for the interim Welterweight title. For some reason I vividly remember being sick as a dog when this card was on. This was in the days when I still used to stay up to watch these things live and I still soldiered on and did that with a bad case of man flu. Who’s the real BMF? We didn’t have the kids yet, that’s how long ago this was, my daughter is 11 now, and Mrs Wand was checking on me throughout the night to see if I was still alive. Bless her. I exaggerate but I was that rough. Still wasn’t gonna stop me staying up to watch the sure-fire FOTY contender we were gonna get out of Diaz vs Condit though. That was a proper dream match for fans at the time who followed Diaz’s run as Strikeforce champ and Condit’s run as WEC champ. To see them finally collide, in the UFC of all places, was like a fever dream. And a fever I certainly had. Anyway, as you probably know, Diaz vs Condit wasn’t the banger we all expected. The card wasn’t a total loss though. There were some highlights. Renan Barao on the rise was looking like something special. Wonderboy made his UFC debut with a highlight reel headkick KO. And there was these two…

Look at those innocent little faces! At the time of this fight, Poirier was 12-1, had fought a couple of times in WEC and was already 3-0 in the UFC. For Holloway, this was his UFC debut. He was 4-0 and had never fought outside his birthplace Honolulu, Hawaii. He’d also never fought at Featherweight. His first four fights were all at Lightweight. In his third fight, he did manage to get a decision win over Harris Sarmiento, who was a journeyman but was a 50+ fight veteran at the time so obviously much more experienced than young 2-0 Max. That’s probably the win that caught the UFC’s attention. But yeah, this was still a big jump for him. First time in the UFC, first time cutting to and fighting at 145, and still at just 20 years old.

Dustin Poirier vs Max Holloway

UFC 143: Diaz vs Condit

February 4th 2012

Las Vegas, Nevada 

Adding to the ‘Christ, this was a long time ago’ vibes, I clicked play on Fight Pass for this only to immediately be met with the voice of Mike Goldberg in the pre-fight video package. I used to criticise Goldy a fair bit, and he wasn’t the best, but I do get a twinge of nostalgia hearing him on old stuff. I guess he represents a more fun and less political and toxic time in MMA. He tells us that Holloway is now the youngest fighter on the roster and it’s mad looking at a fresh faced Max just shadowboxing because they’ve got no actual fight footage they can use of him yet. Different story in 2025, of course. I checked the stats and apparently he’s currently second behind Rafael Dos Anjos for most cage time in UFC history. Max has clocked over EIGHT HOURS in the Octagon! He’s still only 33. I’m rambling. To my surprise, for some reason, they haven’t dubbed over the entrance songs on this fight on Fight Pass. Wasn’t expecting to hear ‘Stronger’ by Kanye as Holloway made his way to the cage.

Anyway, it’s the old school PPV commentary team of Goldberg and Rogan back when he was still desperately clinging onto his rapidly thinning hair and still actually gave a shite about his job and had some enthusiasm for it. Referee is another blast from MMA’s past. It’s Steve Mazzagatti!

Round 1: And we’re off. No feeling out process here. Both look like they wanna get straight after it, which you’d expect out of a 23 and 20 year old. Fuck, in three years I’ll be as old as these two were combined here. Goldberg says on commentary that Max stepped in on four weeks notice for this. I completely forgot he jumped in on short notice here. Another thing going against him. Apparently, this was the third scheduled opponent Poirier was paired with after Erik Koch and Ricardo Lamas dropped out. Max kicking more here than I remember. They’re comparing Holloway to Anthony Pettis on the commentary, which is funny considering these two would both go on to beat Pettis years later. Both landing some stuff, both missing some stuff. They both look a bit green here, to be expected. Max keeps trying a jumping knee and I guess he comes a bit too close for comfort on one of them because Dustin decides to clinch up and go after a takedown. Max defends but Poirier persists and gets his way on the second attempt.

And straight into full mount. Not good for Holloway at all. Dustin’s alternating between looking for submissions and dropping ground and pound. Max can’t get out from under him but he’s constantly trying. His desperation to get out leaves Dustin the opening to go after an armbar though. Max rolls out of the armbar but now he’s locked in a triangle choke. Dustin transitions into a mounted triangle and also extends the arm for the armbar. It’s a wrap. The double whammy of subs is too much for Holloway and he’s forced to tap.

Lovely stuff from Poirier that. Cool finish. Textbook Jiu-Jitsu, setting traps and going from one submission to another until one of them pays off. It’s one of those losses that obviously doesn’t look great on Max’s record. Being subbed in less than a round isn’t the best, is it? But when you know the context and circumstances behind the fight - Max being so young, it being his UFC debut, it being his first time at 145lbs and taking the fight on short notice - it’s not so bad. And in the end, it meant little in the big picture of his career. In hindsight it was nothing more than a minor blip. But even still, being Max’s first taste of defeat, it had to sting at the time.

Winner - Dustin Poirier by submission. Round 1 - 3:23.

Nothing much to say about it really. It’s a short fight between two young prospects at the time and there’s not too much you can read into it. Interesting to look back at now though, knowing what they’d both go on to achieve in their careers. You could see the potential in both back then but you wouldn’t have called them to be where they are now. Two of the most loved fighters in the game and it all started on that night back in 2012. 

I’ll do the rematch either late tonight or early tomorrow. That’s the meat and potatoes of this whole thing, isn’t it? Really looking forward to going back to that fight.

[Bruce85]

It’s making me want to go back and watch them now! I’m surprised they haven’t put at least on of them on the UFC YouTube channel. 

[jimufctna24]

4 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Still wasn’t gonna stop me staying up to watch the sure-fire FOTY contender we were gonna get out of Diaz vs Condit though

1, 2, 5 ?

4 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

It’s one of those losses that obviously doesn’t look great on Max’s record. Being subbed in less than a round isn’t the best, is it?

Holloway's ground game was near non-existent at this stage of his career. He apparently tried to learn the ground game by playing the THQ video game. 

4 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

You could see the potential in both back then but you wouldn’t have called them to be where they are now.

Bas Rutten claims he had Holloway pegged as a future champ after he lost to McGregor. Good old Bas.

I agree though, I would not have guessed at the time that Holloway would give Aldo fits in the future.

Edited July 18, 2025 by jimufctna24

[wandshogun09]

Right then. Settle in for a long post.

It’s pissing down outside. I’m going back to 2019 for the rematch. Holloway vs Poirier 2. Haven’t seen this in ages. To be honest I’m not sure I’ve ever watched it back since it happened. As great as I remember this fight being, I think I might be guilty of underrating it slightly. I’m sure at the time I rated the Adesanya vs Gastelum co-main as the better fight on this card and I don’t think I included Holloway vs Poirier 2 in my Top Fights of The Decade 2010-19 countdown or whatever I called it on here. I know I had Izzy vs Gastelum on that list. I remember I limited that thread to 25 fights so some good ones were inevitably not gonna make the cut. I feel like Max vs Dustin 2 was a glaring omission though. We’ll see how it holds up on the rewatch.

So yeah, by this point these two were a far cry from the wet behind the ears prospects they were when they first met in 2012. Seven years had passed and in that time they’d both gone from strength to strength. They had their setbacks along the way but by 2019 they’d both firmly established themselves as two of the best and most exciting fighters in their weight classes. Since the first fight, Holloway had gone 16-2 and had become the Featherweight champion, dethroning the legendary Jose Aldo with back-to-back stoppages. Other notable wins for Max in this period include Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Anthony Pettis and Brian Ortega. As for Poirier, he’d gone 12-4-0-1. He had mixed results at 145 but moved up to Lightweight in 2015 and went on a four fight win streak before suffering a surprising knockout loss to Michael Johnson. After that though, he went on a tear. Wins over Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez in consecutive FOTN wars got him right back on track.

At the time I don’t think anyone really saw an interim title fight between Max and Dustin coming. Khabib was still the actual Lightweight champ and he was fresh off taking Conor McGregor’s soul the previous October. My memory’s fuzzy but I think at the time it was supposed to be Khabib vs Ferguson next (LOL) but Khabib was on suspension and I think Ferguson was injured. So Dustin was next in line. The UFC created the interim belt, which wasn’t really necessary at the time but it allowed things to keep ticking over while Khabib sat on the sidelines, I guess. The wild card was Max moving up from 145. I don’t think anyone really expected that but he had been open to 155 before. It’s almost forgotten now but he actually stepped in to fight Khabib on that chaotic Brooklyn PPV where everything went wrong and McGregor was attacking buses and stuff.

Yep. It got as far as fight week face-offs and everything. Max stepped in replacing Ferguson on less than a week’s notice but the commission pulled him because of concerns about the short notice weight cut. Al Iaquinta ended up facing Khabib. But yeah, there was a precedent for Max moving up. He was dominating as champ at 145 at the time but he jumped at this opportunity and why not? A chance to win interim gold up a division, secure an undisputed title shot against Khabib and avenge the first loss of his career against Dustin in one go? He was understandably all in.

Max Holloway vs Dustin Poirier - Interim Lightweight Title

UFC 236: Holloway vs Poirier 2

April 13th 2019

Atlanta, Georgia

Commentators for this are Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier. Referee is Blake Grice. Kind of weird him getting this assignment over the likes of Herb Dean, Marc Goddard etc. Minor thing I’ve noticed and it doesn’t matter really but why did they have Holloway as the ‘A-Side’ here? Why’s it ‘Holloway vs Poirier 2’ and not ‘Poirier vs Holloway 2’? Sure Holloway was a champion and Poirier wasn’t but Lightweight was Poirier’s division and he’d beaten a string of ranked Lightweights coming into this fight, Holloway was the Featherweight coming up. I get it with the third fight tonight because Holloway’s defending the BMF belt. Ahh, whatever. They’re back to dubbing shitty generic music over the entrances again here. So no ‘The Boss’ by James Brown for Dustin. BOOO!

Here we go.

Round 1: Right away you can see this isn’t the same two guys as the first fight. Much less wild and jittery and much more calm and tactical. They’ve both had a lot of seasoning in the seven years since they last met. Leg kicks from Poirier early and he lands the first meaty shots of the fight with a couple of lefts which seem to stun Max for a second but Max answers with a glancing left hook counter which gets Dustin off balance. Max with a brief flurry against the fence but Dustin resets and lands a body kick and then cracks Holloway with a hard right which wobbles the legs a bit.

That one definitely registered. Dustin’s pouring it on now but Max still has his wits about him and he’s mostly covering up, dodging or deflecting the worst of it. Some of Poirier’s shots are getting through though. Poirier with a couple of loopy shots again, a left and a right. He’s all over Holloway here. Mixing in knees from the clinch, body punches, straight shots, wide shots. Max doesn’t know what’s coming next. About 90 seconds left on the clock and Holloway seems to have weathered the storm. He’s throwing back now but now Dustin’s unloading again! Fuck me, this is rough for Holloway. A rude welcome to the Lightweight division. A hard jab and a straight left from Dustin find the mark and Max is immediately touching his eye. Poirier lands another couple of straight lefts and Max is there to be hit. As good as he is, he’s not moving his head at all here. It’s almost a static target and Dustin’s teeing off on it over and over again. Max still landing some stuff but he’s been clearly outgunned for the majority of this opening round. He had Max in trouble for a good chunk of the round there and I feel like you have to distinguish between rounds like this and a 10-9. So it’s Poirier 10-8 for me.

Round 2: Holloway looking pretty good early in this round and he’s started going to the body a bit more. Poirier did look a little bit like he might’ve punched himself out late in the first round so Max going after the body makes sense to try and sap more of his energy. Dustin with a hard elbow in close quarters. Max tries to rush in but gets stopped in his tracks by a stiff straight left from Dustin. Max with another body shot and a headkick attempt gets blocked. Dustin goes for a half arsed takedown but Max stuffs it and sarcastically claps after. What a bastard. Max lands a body kick and he’s constantly pressuring Dustin here. The problem is, any time he tries to advance and actually attack, he’s getting clipped coming in almost every time. Dustin clumps him again and has him hurt with less than a minute left in the round. Looked like it would’ve been a knockdown (which would’ve been the first in Max’s career) but the cage held him up. He doesn’t look badly hurt but it definitely knocked him off balance. Both landing at the end of the round but Poirier whacks him again with a right hook that has Max’s legs doing funny things again…

It’s a testament to Holloway’s durability that he hasn’t hit the deck yet because Poirier has been connecting with some nasty shots quite consistently throughout the first ten minutes of this fight. The commentators keep going on about the power differential and there clearly is more pop behind Dustin’s punches. But I think the defensive boxing of both is playing just as big a part in how this one’s been going so far. Dustin’s been much better about evading punches and blocking with his arms and hands whereas Max isn’t moving his head enough, isn’t keeping his hands as high and seems to be relying on his chin more. I think he thought he’d have a bigger speed advantage but Dustin’s timing, combined with his power, has offset a lot of that. They trade again at the end, Poirier gets the better of it and they have an intense staredown after the round ends but end up touching gloves. A better round for Holloway early but Poirier really stamped his authority on it in the last minute or so. Poirier 10-9.

Round 3: Poirier picking right up where he left off, landing punishing strikes every time Holloway steps to him. Seriously, Rogan’s beating the power thing to death and talking like Max is simply out of his depth at 155 but I think that’s underselling Dustin’s skills. Regardless of the punching power, Dustin is outboxing Holloway here. He’s hitting more than he’s being hit and he’s catching Max on the counters a lot. It’s not just a case of one guy having heavier hands. Max is usually the better boxer in there and this time he’s came up against a guy his tricks just aren’t working on. Max isn’t even doing a great deal wrong, Dustin’s just having one of the best performances of his career. Max’s eyes both look marked up now. No surprise when I say there’s no quit in him though. Zero. He’s always coming at Poirier and trying to make something happen. He’s having a better second half of this round as well, his best spell of the fight so far. Rogan will not shut the fuck up about the power though. Even while Max is finally having some success, Rogan’s going “…but he’s just not used to absorbing punches with this kind of power”. Alright Joe, we get it, for fuck’s sake. Holloway really looking like he might be starting to overwhelm Dustin for the first time late in the round. Big flurry against the fence, not a ton of clean shots landed but he’s got Poirier looking a bit frazzled now. Dustin trying for a takedown but Holloway does a great job defending it and also lands some nice elbows in the process. Good stuff from Max there. Holloway 10-9.

Round 4: We’re into the championship rounds. Poirier with the takedown attempt early this time and he’s somewhat successful. I say somewhat because, while he technically gets Max down, he’s unable to keep him there and do anything with it. Crowd actually starts booing! Fuck you Atlanta. They’re back up and Max lands a hard knee to the body. Dustin puts a good Poker face on but you can tell that one sucked. Max is his usual relentless self here. Just not giving Dustin time or space to breathe or regroup at all. Holloway with some good work against the fence now, mixing up his punches to the head and body. Poirier looks tired now but he’s still trying to take Holloway’s jaw off every chance he gets.

Holloway going to town on the body again and this is getting miserable for Poirier now. Deep into the fourth round and despite all the punishment he’s dished out, Max is still there pushing the pace and constantly peppering away. Poirier bleeding from the eye now as well. Poirier lands with the right but it doesn’t seem to have the same zap on it now. Holloway’s cardio is definitely holding up better and it’s serving him well here. He looks worse for wear facially but, conditioning wise, he doesn’t even appear to be breathing heavy. Whereas Dustin’s clearly flagging but he’s so much of a dog he’s just refusing to wilt. Pair of absolute warriors. But right when it’s looking a bit dicey for Dustin…

It doesn’t look like much really, it’s not a 100% flush connection but it doesn’t necessarily need to be when it comes to knees. There’s just enough bone on bone that it causes a nasty gash between Max’s eyebrows and I don’t think more than five seconds pass before his face is covered in blood.

Dustin shooting for a late takedown again here and as Max is leaning over trying to defend it, his face is pissing blood all over Dustin’s back. Quite a visual. They’re stuck there for a bit and Dustin’s smiling away at someone cageside. These two aren’t wired right are they? Dustin drops to secure the takedown in the dying seconds but Max is on the neck going for a choke. They’re out of time. That’s another Holloway 10-9 by my scoring. So I’ve got them 2-2 in rounds going into the 5th, but I’ve got Poirier a point up with the 10-8 in the first.

Round 5: Crowd are on the side of Holloway here. Although that’s probably because of how the last two rounds went and them sensing the momentum is with him. Yank crowds are notorious glory hunters, whoever’s winning that’s their guy. Max looking good again early but Dustin tags him with that stinging straight left that we’ve barely seen over the last couple of rounds. Dustin looks sharper again. I guess the finish line being in sight and the urgency to end the fight strong is why. Rogan again with his erection for Dustin’s power advantage. This time he’s going with the “look at the difference though in the way they look” shite. Yeah, I have Dustin slightly ahead myself but it’s not because of the blood. No wonder half the fanbase score fights based solely on who looks more beat up at the end when you’ve got this senile HGH monkey spouting this bollocks during fights for 20 years. Max is still doing some quality stuff here but it feels like Dustin is pulling ahead in this round now. He’s back on the counters and he’s landing the heavier shots. Dustin’s got him pressed against the cage with under a minute to go. Holloway stops him getting any further than that and they separate. Ten seconds to go and you know what that means…

They throw down but can’t find each others chins as the buzzer goes. And that’s a wrap. Another Poirier 10-9. So I’ve got Poirier winning the fight 48-46. What a fucking fight. Every bit as good as I remembered it and then some. Definitely should’ve been in that Top Fights Of The Decade thread.

Winner - Dustin Poirier by unanimous decision.

With that win, Dustin Poirier becomes the UFC Interim Lightweight champion. As expected, Dustin and Max are all class post-fight. And an emotional Dustin cuts a promo and half when Rogan puts the microphone in front of him…

“Man, this feels amazing. I feel like I’m in a dream right now. I just beat one of the pound-for-pound best in the world. To be the best you’ve gotta beat the best. Damn I feel good, it’s been a long time brother. This is my 23rd or 24th fight with Zuffa. I’ve got knocked down, I’ve climbed back up. Like I said before man, this is my belt, I earned this in blood. Paid in full, this is mine! I’m the fucking champ man! This is a piece of the world title. I wanna unify this belt with the best.”

“I wanna dedicate this fight to my wife. We’ve been together, been married ten years, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be here. There were days when I went home busted and broken and she believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. This is her belt as much as it is mine. I wouldn’t be here without her, I love you Jolie.” - Dustin Poirier

There was more to it but I edited it down slightly because this post has gone on long enough. Says a lot about Dustin though that in the biggest moment of his career, he ended his post-fight speech by dedicating it to his wife. Compare that to the mockery McGregor publicly makes of his Mrs and the mother of his children on a weekly basis. There was always only ever one babyface and one heel in that whole saga.

It’s a shame this win was as close as Poirier ever got to being a proper UFC champion. I’ve said it before on here but I think there’s a strong case to be made that he’s the best fighter in UFC history to never hold undisputed gold. He had three shots at it and, honestly, he had his moments in all three fights against Khabib, Oliveira and Makhachev to some degree. And had little things gone differently in the history of time, he might’ve got that belt. Like if Dana had accepted Khabib’s retirement in 2020 straight away and not spent months trying to convince him to keep fighting, we likely would’ve seen that Poirier vs McGregor 2 fight in January 2021 get the vacant title added to it. And Poirier won that fight by knockout. As sweet as that win must’ve been, it could’ve also been his title win. Oh well. What a career, he’s pretty much done everything but become champion. Assuming this retirement sticks, and call me crazy but for some reason I think it will, MMA is gonna be poorer tomorrow without the ‘Diamond’. In a sport full of cunts, we’re losing one of the good guys. But I am happy he’s leaving on his terms. Especially after seeing this note from his daughter on the Countdown…

Bless her. Who's cutting onions? He can’t fight again after that, can he? Just like Khabib had to stick to his promise to his mum that he was done fighting after his old man died, Dustin can’t go against his daughter’s wishes now, can he? And let’s be honest, as much as he obviously could fight on a bit longer…why? He’s still got something left in the tank and there’s always another fight he could take. But why? It’s all diminishing returns from here. You’re not gonna get any better at 36 years old and after all the wars he’s been in. His window to become UFC champ sadly closed with that loss to Makhachev last year. And from what I’ve read and heard, he’s been pretty wise with his money and should be sorted there. On top of that he’s expressed concerns that he wants to be present and healthy for his daughter and the second baby his wife is carrying currently. So if he’s not fighting for a title and he’s not in it for money anymore and he’s thinking more and more about his health after fighting, that sounds like pretty much a complete checklist of reasons to retire. He’ll be hugely missed but I think it’s time.

No idea what happens in part three. And I hate that one of these two have to lose tonight. But whatever happens it should be a hell of a fight. The fact it’s in Dustin’s home city is gonna make the atmosphere even more special. But as far as a prediction? I’m pretty much stumped. I just don’t have a strong read on it at this point. I’ve been quite surprised though that almost everywhere I’ve seen predictions, people seem to be picking Holloway. Considering Poirier is already 2-0 up and Max is only 1-1 at Lightweight and coming off his first knockout loss, I’m not sure why he seems to be favoured by most. I don’t think it’s a bad pick and I wouldn’t be shocked if he wins. I guess I’m just surprised people seem confident about it. What’s that based on? Are people assuming Poirier is completely washed up because he’s retiring? Because if that’s the case I think it’s wrong. He gave Makhachev a hell of a battle in his last fight despite getting submitted in the end. And I think him knowing this is his last one and it being in his hometown and stuff is will have really spurred him on to leave no stone unturned in his training camp. He looks in about as incredible shape physically as I’ve ever seen him. This is him the other day…

He’s never looked out of shape but he looks absolutely ripped like never before for this fight. He’s clearly poured everything he’s got into this last camp and his motivation to go out on a win is gonna be off the charts. Obviously Max is gonna be motivated beyond belief for different reasons himself. The last thing he wants is to go 0-3 in another trilogy. He wants to claw one back tonight and he’s the one sticking around. A win here is a must for him, especially coming off that Topuria loss and especially now he’s decided to make the full time move to Lightweight. They’ve both got bags of reasons to be motivated for this fight. I think a lot of people assume when fighters announce their next fight will be their last that they’re just gonna show up for the paycheque and phone it in but if anyone doesn’t fit that description it’s Poirier. I think we’re in for another classic tonight. One last Poirier war.

?

Edited July 19, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Panhead]

I completely forgot that Max was going to fight Khabib! Also, that got me thinking. What happened to Ragin' Al?!

[wandshogun09]

9 minutes ago, Panhead said:

What happened to Ragin' Al?!

As far as I know he went into real estate full time.

[Egg Shen]

quick main card predictions...

Poirier - either decision or a late TKO. Poirier seems bang up for it and really looks like he wants to go out on a high in front of his own people. Holloway coming off a bad KO too, there may be lingering effects. 

Kopylov - decision. Initial pick was Costa, but fuck knows what's up with him, strange bloke. Big fan of Kopylov, love seeing him get such a high profile fight.

Pitbull - decision. These Bellator big dogs can't keep losing, surely.

Holland - TKO. Holland a different beast at 170.

Zellhuber - KO. Some people will point to Johnson being on a PPV main card in a 2025 as a sign that this is a weak card, but i'm happy to see him getting the spot, hell of a servant for the promotion, still, he's getting killed here.