Dustin Poirier’s third fight against Max Holloway at UFC 318 was another classic, just like the first two. But unlike the first two, “The Diamond” was largely one step behind “Blessed” for the majority of their trilogy fight.
Holloway showed up for this one a proper lightweight, largely negating the power advantage that Poirier used in their second fight to batter the Hawaiian. Punches that would have put Holloway down in the second fight merely phased him this time ... except for one volley at the end
of the second round that knocked Max to the canvas in a daze (watch the highlights here).
This was a pivotal moment in the fight. What would have happened if Poirier had followed that knockdown punch up with more vicious blows from his feet? We’ll never know because Dustin couldn’t resist being silly and jumping the gilly.
Dustin ending his career with a "Don't be silly, jump the gilly" would've been special tho lolpic.twitter.com/LBdUo8aSPj
— (@fsh733) July 20, 2025
Jumping for the guillotine is something that Poirier does in training all the time. He also goes for it in real fights so often that it drives his coach Mike Brown crazy. It’s become a bit of a meme for Poirier at this point, so it’s fitting that his final fight saw him try to cash out a gilly W.
During the UFC 318 post-fight press conference, Poirier discussed the pivotal moment and whether he regretted going for the high risk / low success rate move.
“When I had him hurt? Nah, never,” Poirier said. “Had to do one last one. One last one. And damn, I really thought that was gonna be the one, man. I had him hurt. But he rolled to his back, and I just couldn’t control it.”
Don't be silly... jump the gilly #UFC318@DustinPoirier will NEVER stop going for this choke! pic.twitter.com/yL0GwpVJNY
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 16, 2025
The only criticism Poirier had for himself was not going as hard as he could have in the final round.
“Going into the fifth, I thought it was close,” he said. “I thought it might have been two and two. So in the fifth, I could have put myself in harm’s way a little bit more. Maybe I would have got finished. Maybe I would have finished him. I could have took more chances in the fifth.”
“I was trying to fight like a professional, be smart. It seemed like he was waiting to counter me with his right hand every time I would come in. The crazy thing is he never threw it, but his footwork and his movement was ready to throw that right hand. So I didn’t wanna take too many risks, getting countered. I didn’t wanna miss and get countered. And he had already hurt me in the second round.”
Gilly Goose Gang merch up now https://t.co/qzjhtxNLlr pic.twitter.com/DKto6C3S0K
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 3, 2024
“I thought I was doing well. I thought it was close rounds every time,” he concluded. “So looking back, hindsight’s always 20-20, but I thought I fought smart.”
As for the final ten seconds when Holloway called for them to stand and bang?
“I wanted to do it. That’s why I was looking up at the clock, I said ‘When we doing this?’” Poirier recalled with a laugh. “He pointed down and I said, ‘Okay, I oblige.’ Then he hit me with a few shots, and I said, ‘Okay, we’re gonna wrestle a little bit.’ Let me clinch up, there’s only eight seconds left.”
Poirier ends his MMA career with a 30-10 record (22-9 in the UFC) and, sadly, zero guillotine submission wins.
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