Dustin Poirier refuses to let MMA retire him.
After establishing himself as one of the most exciting and beloved fighters of the past 13 years, “Diamond” places his gloves forever in his hometown of New Orleans. But not before headlined another pay-per-view event.
This Saturday, Poirier will close out both his career and trilogy with former featherweight King Max Holloway with his BMF title crash at UFC 318.
At 36, Poirier still competed at the top of his game, recently taking former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev to the fifth round before succumbing to Darse Chok. But instead of allowing the sport to decide when it’s time to leave, the former interim title holder has taken his destiny in his own hands and chooses to retire while he still has plenty of fights left for him.
“I don’t want sports to bite me,” Poirier said at UFC 318 Media Day. “I want to leave. I don’t want to retire it.”
“Whenever I saw my name on a fight card, I knew it would be war. I hope people remember me as a warrior. I didn’t cut corners. I always gave it all.”
Dustin Poirier can round out his career with a clean sweep of Max Holloway
In more than 30 UFC battles, Poirier fought the best wars and wars in business, including the Korean Zombies, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Justin Geshe, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, Michael Chandler and Conor McClegor.
He already entered the retirement match 2-0 against Holloway, beaten “blessings” with a 2012 submission and a unanimous decision in 2019.