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Max Holloway sends bold message to Dustin Poirier & UFC lightweight division

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Zain Bando | Last updated Jun 15, 2025 5:07 PM ET

A little over a month separates former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway and former interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier from locking horns at UFC 318 in Poirier’s home state of Louisiana.

The trilogy is being built as Poirier retires, with a possible storybook ending in the works. However, Holloway revealed in a recent YouTube video that while he intends for the fight to be legendary, he sees himself coming out on top no matter how the pro-Poirier crowd reacts.

“The message that I’m trying to send is that I’m still here,” Holloway said regarding title contention.

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Max Holloway Offers UFC 317 Outlook

Holloway said he is locked into seeing how the vacant lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira later this month.

With an impressive performance, Holloway says he should be right back in the mix for another shot at a world title – even at Poirier’s expense.

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“I know this is Dustin’s retirement fight, but his last fight was for a title,” Holloway said. “I still have title [contention] in my mind, and a couple of weeks before us, there’s a title fight at 155 and I got history with both men.”

Although Holloway didn’t offer a prediction, he said by night’s end, the world will know why he should remain a boogeyman at 155 pounds.

Holloway and Poirier Are Known For Legendary Wars

“I’m here to spoil his plans and get my hand raised, because I’m still going to be here when he’s riding off into the sunset," Holloway said. "I’m still going to be here, I still want to go and get an undisputed title, so I got to go out there and make a statement.”

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Holloway and Poirier are linked to some of the biggest names in the sport. By the time both retire, both men will have etched their names in UFC history.

Come fight night, all questions will be answered whether Holloway remains in title contention.