Retired UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier spent six of his pro fights competing against former champions Max Holloway and Conor McGregor, compiling a combined record of 4-2 while registering a submission victory over “Blessed” at UFC 143 and a knockout win over “Notorious” at UFC 257.
If anyone can tell you what it’s like to face the volume punching of the Hawaiian, or the knockout power of the Irishman, it’s “The Diamond.” Poirier recently gave his breakdown of the UFC 329 main event on July 11 in Las
Vegas, where Holloway and McGregor will rematch to close out International Fight Week.
“I think Max smokes him like a brisket,” Poirier told Paramount’s Deep Waters” podcast. “The thing is, Conor has the power. No matter the injury, that’s going to be there still. The timing, other things matter. But the power’s going to be there. He has a puncher’s chance. Max for sure is a volume puncher, but at 155 when I fought him last, he has power behind his shots, and I’ve got to think at 170 he’s got to have even more power.”
But don’t run to the betting window just yet.
“Max can punch now,” Poirier added. “He’s not just a volume puncher. He can finish fights. The thing that I keep thinking about is in Max’s last three fights, he’s touched the canvas more times than he’s touched his whole career. (Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria) dropped him. I dropped him. That’s his last few fights. If Max’s chin is finally catching up to the style of fighting he does, Conor could put him down.”
McGregor’s last knockout came over a washed Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in early 2020.
The 37-year-old Poirier (30-10, 1 NC) notched his final fight at UFC 318 last summer in New Orleans. His decision loss to Holloway marked the second straight defeat for the fading “Diamond,” who dropped four of his last six en route to a late 2025 retirement.
McGregor and Holloway may not be far behind him, depending on what happens at UFC 329.
