WHO WILL BE THE BADDEST OF THEM ALL???
The hometown kid @DustinPoirier
challenges @BlessedMMA
for the BMF belt in his final trip to the Octagon!#UFC318
| @GNOSports
| Learn More: https://t.co/GUdzvfNyaj pic.twitter.com/fDnILvrVwW— UFC (@ufc)
April 25, 2025
Two of the most beloved
Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters will run it back one
more time.
The trilogy bout for Max
Holloway (26-8) and Dustin
Poirier (30-9, 1 NC) is on the books for
UFC 318 on July 19. The two lightweights will collide for
Holloway’s symbolic “BMF” belt, a title not currently connected to
actual championship accolades. This event will also serve as the
promotion’s return to “The Big Easy” for the first time in over a
decade, with Tim Boetsch
and Dan
Henderson duking it out in New Orleans‘ Smoothie King Center
back in June 2015. Of note, Poirier won by knockout on that fight
card.
Over the last several years, Holloway has excelled against
competition not named Alexander
Volkanovski and Ilia
Topuria. With the former, the Hawaiian lost three times for the
undisputed featherweight strap to Volkanovski. Although he tried to
get it back in a vacant championship match with Topuria, the
Spaniard knocked him out cold for the first time ever.
Poirier first announced the news of this match, one that for now is
serving also as his retirement bout, on the Pat McAfee
Show on Friday. The promotion promptly formalized the
announcement shortly thereafter. The Louisiana native has
alternated wins and losses in his last six walks to the cage, with
triumphs over Conor
McGregor, Michael
Chandler and Benoit St.
Denis opposite stoppages to Charles
Oliveira, Justin
Gaethje and Islam
Makhachev.
The two first tangled in Holloway’s UFC debut at UFC 143 in 2012.
The youngster fell victim to a triangle armbar from the
more-experienced Poirier. Seven years and a weight class later—the
first fight took place at 145 pounds, while the second and this
upcoming bout are at lightweight—the two ran it back. This time,
Holloway reached the final horn, losing a nailbiter on the
scorecards having actually landed more frequently than Poirier in
their 25-minute battle. Holloway claimed the “BMF” belt against
Gaethje in April 2024, and even though he lost to Topuria, he will
still have it on the line against Poirier.