7 months ago
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Brett OkamotoJul 20, 2025, 01:39 AM ET
- Brett Okamoto has reported connected mixed martial arts and boxing astatine ESPN since 2010. He has covered each of the biggest events successful combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names specified arsenic Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was besides a shaper connected the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked backmost astatine the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives successful Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer successful his spare time.
NEW ORLEANS -- Dustin Poirier couldn't unafraid a triumph successful the last combat of his storied UFC vocation connected Saturday -- but ultimately, that mattered precise little.
Poirier's last locomotion to the Octagon astatine UFC 318 wrong King Smoothie Arena ended successful a unanimous-decision nonaccomplishment to erstwhile featherweight champion Max Holloway, but it was inactive a fitting extremity to his 16-year nonrecreational career. The five-round BMF rubric combat saw respective melodramatic swings of momentum and culminated successful the 2 gathering successful the mediate of Holloway's patented point-down exchange.
All 3 judges scored the lightweight bout for Holloway: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. Immediately aft the win, Holloway (27-8) welcomed each BMF challengers and made a little notation to 155-pound champion Ilia Topuria, earlier ceding the spotlight to Poirier (30-10).
"It's been overwhelming honestly," Poirier said astir the magnitude of fight-week adoration helium received. "I consciousness appreciated. I consciousness seen. I ne'er stepped extracurricular of warring and looked astatine it this way. I ne'er got to look astatine it 3rd person. This week has been incredible. I consciousness loved by the fans, Louisiana and the company. I'm a kid surviving the imagination retired here, man, throwing punches."
Poirier, 36, retires successful a necktie for the fifth-most wins successful UFC past with 22. He is besides tied for fourth-most knockouts with 11.
Poirier's bequest involves 3 undisputed rubric appearances successful 2019, 2021 and 2024. He came up abbreviated successful each, against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. He captured an interim lightweight rubric successful 2019 though by defeating Holloway via unanimous determination successful an instant five-round classic.
Saturday's trilogy against Holloway -- Poirier won the archetypal 2 meetings -- featured everything the athletics came to expect from a Poirier fight. Holloway dropped him with a close manus successful the opening minutes, but Poirier survived and scrambled backmost to his feet. Holloway dropped him again successful the 2nd round, but Poirier recovered and really dropped Holloway aboriginal successful the framework and changeable for a guillotine.
Poirier walked retired to the Octagon with New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne, successful a poetic motion -- Poirier, who was calved and raised successful Lafayette, walked retired to Lil Wayne's way "A Milli" for his UFC debut successful 2011. The UFC rearranged its docket to publication Poirier's last combat successful his location state.
According to UFC Stats, Holloway, of Hawaii, outlanded Poirier successful full strikes 186-114. Poirier chopped Holloway nether his near oculus successful the 4th round, but the measurement of Holloway's strikes besides started to instrumentality a toll connected him astir that aforesaid time. His movements grew a small sluggish late, though helium inactive had capable to judge Holloway's invitation to basal successful the halfway of the Octagon and plaything astatine the extremity of the fight.
It's a large triumph for Holloway, who came disconnected the archetypal knockout nonaccomplishment of his vocation to Topuria successful their 145-pound rubric combat past October.
