Dustin Poirier will bring down the curtain on his illustrious MMA career at UFC 318. The former interim lightweight champion will fight one last time in his home state of Louisiana against a very familiar opponent in Max Holloway. This will be the third meeting between Poirier and Holloway, but as ‘The Diamond’ has revealed, his long-time rival wasn’t his first choice for his final MMA bout.
Poirier never managed to clinch undisputed gold in the UFC, challenging for the lightweight title on three occasions. His most recent challenge came at UFC 302, where he lost via submission to the vacating champion Islam Makhachev.
However, his final fight presents the chance to win a unique and symbolic title in the UFC. And Poirier can also achieve a feat only accomplished by three UFC alumni if he emerges victorious against Holloway.
The main event fight against Holloway will be for the BMF (baddest motherf**ker) title. Holloway won the BMF title at the historic UFC 300, claiming the title with one of the most memorable knockouts in UFC history.
The fight against Poirier will be the trilogy capper and a full-circle moment for Holloway, who fought and lost to Poirier on his UFC debut in 2012. Holloway lost his second fight to Poirier as well, so there’s further skin in the game for Holloway, too.
As for Poirier, a win would take him to 23 UFC victories overall. This would push him up to joint second in the all-time list alongside Donald Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski, and just four behind Jim Miller. The UFC brass viewed Poirier’s history with Holloway as perfect narrative fodder heading into UFC 318. The stars certainly aligned for this showdown, but Poirier had a different fighter in mind for his final fight.
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“I chose Gaethje,” revealed Poirier to Full Violence. “UFC they wanted Max for some reason. I don’t know, because he had the BMF belt. I don’t know why but they were high on it.
“I was Max’s first fight in the UFC. His debut fight, I was his fight, and he’s my last fight. It’s kinda cool, man, and he’s a guy I respect a lot, so it’s an important fight for me. I said legends only, and Max is definitely that.”
However, should Poirier end his career on a happy note, it would present the UFC with a unique problem
What happens to the BMF title if Poirier wins?
It makes sense as to why Poirier would want his retirement fight to be against Gaethje. The fight would’ve, again, concluded a trilogy. On top of that, their head-to-head is all square at 1-1. But with this plausible ‘what-if’ scenario hanging over the UFC 318 fight, Gaethje could yet play a crucial role in the future of the BMF title.
Holloway’s incredible UFC 300 was delivered to none other than Gaethje himself. But if Poirier wins the BMF title in his last fight, where does that leave the symbolic championship?
It could be retired or deactivated, or the UFC could hold a tournament to crown a new champion. However, considering the history between Holloway and Gaethje that stems from their iconic UFC 300 bout, it would be fitting to see the two fighters lock up for a sequel to that memorable fight to decide a new champion.
With Poirier retiring, he would naturally be vacating the title as soon as he’d won it. And for someone who has a great deal of respect for both Gaethje and Holloway, he would surely be satisfied knowing his title would be moving into either of their hands once he retires and vacates.
