Whether it’s Max Holloway or Dustin Poirier who gets their hand raised, the real winner will be the fans.
The Diamond’ makes his final walk to the Octagon this Saturday night in his native New Orleans, headlining UFC 318 inside the Smoothie King Center. Standing in Poirier’s way of a big win in his MMA swan song will be Holloway — a man who’s already gone toe-to-toe with the ex-interim champion twice before.
Poirier goes into the trilogy fight with a 2-0 lead over the former featherweight titleholder, but whether he accomplishes the clean sweep or not, fans are undoubtedly in for a treat.
At least, that’s what Eddie Alvarez thinks, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who disagrees.
“At the end of the day, the people who win in this is going to be the fans,” Alvarez told The Schmo. “It’s not going to be Dustin or Max. The winners of this—the real winners—are going to be the fans the night of the fight.”
Dustin Poirier Ready to cap off his career with a BMF title victory Over Max Holloway
Alvarez knows a thing or two about just how tough ‘The Diamond’ is, stepping inside the Octagon with Poirier on two separate occasions during his four-year run with the promotion. While their first scrap ended in an unfortunate no-contest following an illegal knee, they would run it back a year later with Poirier earning a second-round TKO over ‘The Underground King.’
Since then, Poirier has added a slew of highlight-reel finishes to his resume, including back-to-back knockouts of Conor McGregor in 2021.
He also choked out Michael Chandler and landed an insane come-from-behind knockout against Benoit Saint-Denis, securing a title opportunity against then-lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Despite a valiant effort, Poirier succumbed to a submission in the fifth round, bringing an end to his six-year bid to become an undisputed titleholder.
While Poirier never captured the 155-pound crown, he’ll still have the chance to retire as a champion when Holloway puts his bragging rights belt — the BMF title — on the line in NOLA.
