Dustin Poirier wanted to go out on his shield ... not his stretcher.
That’s why “The Diamond” clinched with opponent Max Holloway to close out the UFC 318 pay-per-view (PPV) event — and his lightweight career — last weekend in New Orleans. It seems the ghost of Justin Gaethje will continue to haunt every forthcoming Holloway fight at 155 pounds.
As such, the “B” in “BMF” now stands for “Blessed.”
“I wanted to do it,” Poirier said at the UFC 318 post-fight press conference. “That’s why I kept looking
up at the clock. I said, ‘When are we doing this?’ You saw me looking at the clock a few times and saying, ‘Okay, that’s 25 seconds left ... not time yet.’ Then he pointed down and I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll oblige,’ and 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.”
Watch the “Holloway vs. Poirier 3” video highlights here.
Not surprisingly, a handful of also-rans and never-weres like Dillon Danis criticized Poirier for not crossing the vegetable bridge in the final seconds of his cage-fighting career.
“Dustin not even throwing a punch and diving for a desperate body lock in the final 10 seconds of a war? That swing off moment was everything and he fumbled it,” Danis wrote on Twitter. “He’s in aura debt now. Nothing BMF about that. Dustin Poirier’s last moment in the Octagon was him clinching on for dear life.”
The rest of the combat sports community had nothing but glowing praise for “The Diamond.” The 36 year-old Poirier retires at 30-10 (1 NC) with 23 finishes, 15 post-fight performance bonuses, and almost 11 “Fight of the Night” honors.
A word of advice ....
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) July 20, 2025
When Max Holloway points to the canvas and invites you to throw down, just run the other way. That dude has an unreal ability to just crush people in that 10 seconds #UFC318
For more UFC 318 news and results click here.
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