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Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier hilariously react to UFC 318 bonus snub

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Zain Bando | Last updated Jul 20, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier got the short end of the stick Saturday night in New Orleans, Louisiana. Despite Holloway's unanimous decision win against "The Diamond" to put a dent in the three-fight series (the first two being won by Poirier in 2012 and 2019). Holloway took the scorecards 48-47, 49-46, 49-46.

Despite a frenetic pace from both men, which included an epic Holloway knockdown in Round 1, followed by a near-emphatic guillotine choke attempt from Poirier in Round 2, and a much less poetic yet brief exchange in the closing seconds of Round 5, it wasn't enough. Neither man earned the coveted "Fight of the Night" bonus, to the surprise of both.

Holloway And Poirier Get Bad News

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"Bro, how did we not get Fight of the Night?" Holloway asked Poirier backstage.

Poirier appeared stunned and confused himself.

"What?" Poirier asked after hearing that Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen got bonuses for their fight against each other.

From there, both men had a good laugh and told the tale of their trilogy fight.

"We knocked each other down in the same round," Holloway said, followed by a hug and embrace from Poirier.

The moment Dustin and Max find out they didn’t got FOTN bonus

#UFC318 pic.twitter.com/z7KFnorgUc
— Diana Belbiță (@DianaBelbita) July 20, 2025

The victory marked Holloway's first in over a year, as he knocked out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 to win the "BMF" title before losing to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 last October at featherweight.

Meanwhile, Poirier finished his MMA career with back-to-back losses, which included a lightweight title submission at the hands of then-champion Islam Makhachev.

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It capped a night where all five main card fights went the distance, a stark contrast to a fast and furious preliminary portion that saw the UFC implement several feature pieces chronicling Poirier's career.

Nevertheless, both men will be linked together forever regardless of the trilogy's non-linearity, as Poirier won the overall series 2-1.