UFC 318 will mostly be about paying homage to Dustin Poirier. The Louisiana native is set to retire following the main event of the night, the 'BMF' championship fight against current champion and Wai‘anae native Max Holloway. Poirier and Holloway have previously faced each other twice, with Poirier holding a 2-0 advantage.
Poirier, 36, is ready to call it a career after 40 professional mixed martial arts fights. The UFC 318 card, set to take place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, was crafted around him. The main card will begin at 4 p.m. HST Saturday on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
After debuting with the UFC on New Year's Day in 2011, Poirier has been a mainstay with the organization. He's challenged for the official lightweight title three times, but lost via submission all three times.
When Holloway signed with the UFC as a 20-year-old in 2012, he was a 4-0 star on the rise and the youngest fighter on the roster. Reality hit him quick during his UFC debut on Feb. 4, 2012, submitting to Poirier in the first round via triangle armbar.
Holloway was 3-3 in his first six UFC fights, including a two-fight losing streak that made executives question his future in the the organization heading into 2014. Remarkably, he went on to win 13 straight bouts over the course of the next five years, winning four consecutive featherweight title fights. With each performance, audiences from Wai‘anae to the world grew captivated by Max "Blessed" Holloway.
His dominance in the 145-pound division well established, Holloway aimed to earn elusive 'champ champ' status by moving up 10 pounds to challenge for the interim lightweight belt. His opponent? Poirier.
Seven years after defeating Holloway in his debut, Poirier again got the better of him, winning via unanimous decision on April 13, 2019, snatching the interim lightweight championship while putting an end to Holloway's 13-fight win streak.
With Poirier's standing in the organization as a modern legend, the UFC desired to pit him with a commensurate opponent, landing on Holloway. On Saturday, the pair will fight 13 years after their first bout and six years after their interim title fight in 2019.
Holloway electrified the MMA world with a last-second knockout for the BMF belt over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 on April 13, 2024, providing one of the sports world's most viral moments of the year. In an attempt to reclaim the featherweight belt his next time out, Holloway lost to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in the first knockout defeat of his career.
Poirier, like Holloway, is coming off a championship loss in his most recent fight, losing to Islam Makachev via submission at UFC 302.
With 74 combined professional fights between Poirier (30 wins, nine losses and one no contest) and Holloway (26-8), their careers have continued to be intertwined with their common opponents. Holloway has defeated Gaethje, Charles Olivera, and Chan Sung Jung, all of whom have wins over Poirier. Meanwhile, worldwide combat sports star Conor McGregor has not fought since a pair of losses to Poirier in 2021. Holloway's loss to McGregor on Aug. 17, 2013 was his final defeat before his 13-fight winning streak.
The matchup between Holloway and Gaethje was a result of Gaethje defeating Poirier on July 29, 2023 for the vacant BMF belt, just the second BMF title fight in the organization's history. The BMF belt was introduced by UFC president Dana White in 2019, set to commemorate "the baddest motherf*****" in the organization.
The BMF belt is the only championship belt currently not tied to a weight class in the UFC, although Poirier hit the scales at 156 pounds on Friday, while Holloway did so at 155.
Although Poirier is set to ceremoniously retire on Saturday, Holloway has also recently admitted he is much closer to the end of his career rather than the beginning. At 33, Holloway is younger than four of the UFC's eight male champions. But because of how early he began and how active he has been since, he also has taken a career's worth of damage. Holloway is the UFC's all-time significant strikes leader with 3,457, although he is also the leader in strikes absorbed.
In a recent appearance on the Taisei Discovers podcast, Holloway estimated he has about two to three years left in his career, with four to five fights in that span, noting a desire to still be competitive with his counterparts the day he retires.
Throughout fight week festivities in New Orleans, Poirier and Holloway have continued to be cordial and complimentary towards each other. Holloway earnestly encouraged the Poirier partisan-crowd in Louisiana to continue supporting the hometown hero at his expense.
"It's gonna be a fun one. This is (Poirier's) last dance. Bring on more of the boos," Holloway said during the pre-fight press conference on Thursday. "Give this man his respect. That's what I like to hear, because it's gonna be a fun one come Saturday night.
"They don't need no firing up. This is exactly what I expected and I'm thankful for them."
Kahuku alumnus Dan Ige is also on the card, facing Bellator mainstay Patricio "Pitbull" Freire in the second fight of the main card. Freire is fighting in just his second UFC fight, losing a unanimous decision to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314 in April in his debut with the organization.
At UFC 308, Holloway and Ige appeared on the same UFC card for the first time but both lost. UFC 318 will serve as another source of motivation for the duo.
"We get to right our wrongs. All that stuff's in the past. We're here now, we're preparing now, we're gonna put on a great show for all of you guys," Ige said.
More anticipation was added to the main event of the card after Poirier announced that Grammy-winning rapper and fellow Louisiana native Lil Wayne would walk him out for the fight.
Following the fight, Poirier is vowing to take off his gloves and lay them down in the center of the octagon, customary when a mixed martial artist announces their retirement. The gloves, as well as the rest of Poirier's fight-worn gear that night, will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Good Fight Foundation, Poirier's organization that serves children in need in Louisiana.
"Helping out with the community, that stuff means more than fighting to me," Poirier said. "I'm content. I'm happy. I was a kid chasing a dream and I turned this into a life for my family and I've had some ups and downs in my career, I've had a lot of high moments and I'm really thankful for the journey. It's given me everything I have. It's told me so much about myself. The question I have to ask is when I look in the mirror, what's more important: What I obtain on the journey or the person I become on the journey? I'm content with the person I see in the mirror. I'm thankful, I'm grateful and I'm in a good spot."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
