MMA News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

How Dustin Poirier’s Quick Thinking Saved Him from Brutal Embarrassment at UFC 318

Originally posted on FirstSportz | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 5:33 PM ET

Dustin Poirier and his 32-fight UFC tenure came to an end against one Max Holloway, at the UFC 318 PPV headliner, this Saturday. However, the curtain call on Poirier’s last UFC hurrah would have been more zingy if not for one detail. His and Holloway’s 10-second throwdown didn’t amount to anything.

There was no guarantee that it ever would. But Max Holloway and his twice-made-famous point down and calls to brawl have their own fandom now. He punctuated a mass overhanded volume-swinging and bagged a buzzer-beater win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.

Holloway’s highlight KOTY during the late summer PPV top spot got wildly famous; many other fighters mimicked the gig to call to battle, albeit with less success. Dutch fledgling promotion Levels Fight League even allocated an in-house “Max Point Throwdown” post-fight bonus of $5000 for anyone doing it and adding entertainment factors.

Dustin Poirier’s last brawl and his always being ready to bleed for war meant this could be an exciting one. However, when the time came, ‘The Diamond’ clinched up and grazed the matter fence-side. Poirier recently again explained avoiding that rather CTE-impacting throwdown:

The point down, and we were going to exchange punches. But he was [just] too fast. He was too fast. And I was like …I might have threw one or two punches back at him. And I said, [No] we’re just going to clinch up….We’re going to wrestle a little bit. [But then] I’m not doing this…but I could have landed a shot, too. I just did. I just didn’t. Once I threw one or two, he was throwing off three or four. By the time my two were thrown, you know, it’s just like [over]. And I thought it was. I just thought it was a lot closer, uh, in the moment.
Dustin Poirier on The Ariel Helwani Show for Uncrowned Combat

Holloway has outboxed with one hundred or more significant strikes logged in seventeen separate competition fights. It’s a record for the company. No other competitor has more than 10 such displays, with Sean Strickland in far second place at nine!

The Team Gracie Technics’ striker has out-landed 3,655 significant strikes in UFC competition; also the most in company history. Even during UFC 318 PPV, he outdid Poirier 198-109 (of 375) and touted a high 52% significant striking percentage, per UFC Stats board. Most of it was in rapid combinations, and Poirier felt no space left but to clinch up, and eight seconds were already past!

Dustin Poirier on the last 10 seconds of the fight.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/F5sU5tFRmB
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 21, 2025

Poirier has had challenges before but still turned the tide, closing range and performing a sweet standup. It’s not just a case of ‘Holloway good’; this time around, the Louisiana lightweight felt something different. This time, when the 10-second exchange began, or even before that, the fighter said he felt a surging sense of ‘self-preservation’. That ultimately made him play it safer.

Dustin Poirier highlights feelings of ‘self-preservation’ that reaffirmed his decision to not lace up

UFC luminary Dustin Poirier encountered a career inflection point in the PPV headliner at UFC 318. Poirier’s ultimate UFC bout drew short straw on judges’ scorecards against Max Holloway. However, many celebrated his long career when all was said and done.

What went through Poirier’s mind during his final ‘war’ is something only he could tell. However, on the outside, the boxer guarded a lot in between tucking at his shorts for his signature fiery combos and fallout. This time, it felt a lot safer despite another signature performance. In a recent media interview, the Team ATT fighter touched on what happened:

Going through the fight, immediately my thoughts about what just happened, I thought I did enough…[but] then…But I went back and watched it. What you’re feeling and going through in there, and what you see from an outside view, is two different things. I could see him winning rounds, throwing more volume, body shots, pulling away [in between rounds]. I felt like in between rounds I was talking to my boxing coach, and I could’ve taken more chances…But I was trying to protect myself at the same time, and I’ve never really fought like that before.
Dustin Poirier to MMAJunkie’s Mike Bohn

Holloway, who has now shared three Octagon fights with him, was extra-respectful in the lead-up, given Poirier was retiring in his ‘Big Easy’ homestate. Aljamain Sterling, a keen watcher of fights with the habit of weighing in on socials, thinks ‘Blessed’ pulled his punches from finishing him early.

Other pundits and fans have billed as much as well. Still, now that he has a son on the way, Poirier said a sense of preservation and going back to his family safe took hold. It’s much the reason why he has settled on yet another rematch option, not concluding, given the violent fallouts. Now that he has hung it up, though, Poirier can look back on his stellar run without harm of injury.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: