Dustin
Poirier didn’t want to stand in the pocket with Max
Holloway for more than 10 seconds.
Holloway’s iconic gesture of pointing down to the ground to invite
his opponent to a slugfest started with Justin
Gaethje. After picking apart Gaethje for five rounds, Holloway
invited him to stand and trade in the pocket in the final seconds
and knocked him out in an iconic buzzer beater at UFC
300.
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When Poirier (30-10) faced Holloway in his retirement fight at
UFC 318 last year, “The Diamond” knew a similar invitation was
coming. However, Poirier wanted to make sure he didn’t have to
trade with Holloway for over 10 seconds. Poirier’s wife, Jolie, had
also warned him not to get lured by Holloway’s pointing down
gesture. Confident in his own striking in the pocket, Poirier
eventually decided to exchange with Holloway. However, “Blessed”
started picking Poirier apart, forcing him to clinch in the final
seconds.
Making a Business Decision
“I knew it was coming,” Poirier recently told the UFC. “But when he
started pointing down, I was like, ‘Hold on, let me check the
clock.’ I don’t want to point down with 20 seconds left. I’m
thinking of Justin
Gaethje laying face down. My wife told me too the night before, ‚When he points down, don’t do it. You don’t point down, you don’t
do it either.’… I’m only gonna throw for 10 seconds. And then he
started eating me up in the pocket, that’s where I do my best work.
He was lighting me up there. So I had to clinch him.”
Dustin
Poirier reveals the reason he didn’t stand and bang with
Max
Holloway was because his wife told him not to.😭😂„I’m thinking of Justin
Gaethje laying face down. My wife told me the night before,
‚when he points down, don’t do it‘. I knew it was coming.“ pic.twitter.com/QQ2yPwJS39— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA)
January 17, 2026