Countless tributes to a recently-retired UFC legend have come out in the last two weeks, with none more meaningful than the one recently shared by the future Hall of Famer’s wife.
At UFC 318, Dustin Poirier stepped into the Octagon for the final time for a third meeting with Max Holloway that Poirier ultimately lost via unanimous decision following a five-round war.
“The Diamond” still got to close out his career by headlining a UFC event in his home state of Louisiana, and the 36-year-old was given a tremendous sendoff from the New Orleans crowd following the conclusion of a 41-fight pro MMA career than began all the way back in 2009.
Now a couple of weeks removed from her husband’s final fight, Poirier’s wife Jolie took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message for one of the most beloved fighters to ever compete in the UFC.
Combats sports fans are all too familiar with the trend of fighter retirements rarely sticking, but this week Poirier also informed fans they can look forward to seeing him working as an analyst during upcoming UFC broadcasts as he moves into his post-fighting career.
While he came up short in three separate bids to claim undisputed UFC gold, Poirier’s incredible UFC career will almost certainly earn the 36-year-old a place in the promotion’s Hall of Fame at some point in the future.
"The Diamond" initially joined the UFC as a featherweight as part of the WEC merger before a 2015 move up to the lightweight division. That weight class change immediately followed a knockout-loss to Conor McGregor, which Poirier would later avenge by winning their second and third meetings at UFC 257 and UFC 264.
A post-fight bonus machine, Poirier capped off an impressive win streak that included Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, and Eddie Alvarez with a second victory over Holloway in 2019 to claim the interim UFC lightweight belt.
Poirier came up short in a title unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov later that year and was also submitted by Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev in his other two undisputed lightweight title fights, and a “Fight of the Night” winning performance against Makhachev served as the UFC star's penultimate bout before he met Holloway for a third time at UFC 318.
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