Holloway wins UFC 318 main event in Poirier's retirement fight - ESPN

NEW ORLEANS — Dustin Poirier couldn't secure a win in the final fight of his storied UFC career on Saturday — but ultimately, that mattered very little.

Poirier's final walk to the Octagon at UFC 318 inside the Smoothie King Center ended in a unanimous decision loss to former featherweight champion Max Holloway, but it was still a fitting end to his 16-year professional career. The five-round BMF title fight saw several dramatic swings of momentum and culminated in the two meeting in the middle of Holloway's patented point-down exchange.

All three judges scored the lightweight bout for Holloway: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. Immediately after the win, Holloway (27-8) welcomed all BMF challengers and made a brief reference to 155-pound champion Ilia Topuria before ceding the spotlight to Poirier (30-10).

«It's been overwhelming honestly,» Poirier said about the amount of fight-week adoration he received. «I feel appreciated. I feel seen. I never stepped outside of fighting and looked at it this way. I never got to look at it third person. This week has been incredible. I feel loved by the fans, Louisiana and the company. I'm a kid living the dream out here, man, throwing punches.»

Poirier, 36, retires in a tie for the fifth-most wins in UFC history with 22. He is also tied for fourth-most knockouts with 11.

Poirier's legacy involves three undisputed title appearances in 2019, 2021 and 2024. He came up short in each, against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. He captured an interim lightweight title in 2019, though, by defeating Holloway via unanimous decision in an instant five-round classic.

Saturday's trilogy against Holloway — Poirier won the first two meetings — featured everything the sport came to