Dustin Poirier will be riding in the sunset following his battle with Max Holloway, who has been making headlines for UFC 318 in his Louisiana home town.
The former interim lightweight champion has teased a potential retirement for the past few years, but now Poirier is ready to pull the trigger on the final Harley scheduled for New Orleans on July 19th.
“Around the world, Dustin Poirier is a big star for us,” White told WDSU in Louisiana. “He’s done a lot in the sport. This is for him and to be honest with you. This is for him. He’s here because he wanted to have his final fight and end his career in New Orleans.”
Poirier pushed UFC to return to New Orleans for several years with the final appearance in 2015 when the UFC knocked out Yancy Medeiros with their UFC Fight Night card.
Poirier never won an uncontroversial title in his UFC career, but White praised him as one of the biggest fighters to step into the Octagon after competing for the last 15 years for promotions in the UFC and WEC.
“In fact, he is currently ranked fifth in the world in the lightweight category,” White said of Poilier. “He is the guy who has achieved his place in the top 10 in the sport for a very long time, and he has achieved a lot.
“He is one of the greatest greatest people of all time. Thousands of people have fought in the UFC. I don’t know where I can rank him, but he is one of the greatest greatest people of all time.”
The same goes for Poilier’s opponents.
Poillier first debuted at the UFC in 2012 and won both previous encounters in a submission victory over Holloway when he made a unanimous decision against Hawaiian in the 2019 interim lightweight title.
Now Holloway is watching to revenge those past losses while stepping into enemy territory by raising his “BMF” title for a glove against his hometown Poaire.
“Poilier is fighting Max Holloway. “It should be a great fight.”