Max Holloway retains UFC BMF title, spoils Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight

New Orleans (AP) – Max Holloway said he wanted to play Spoiler and he did it on Saturday evening in the main event.

Holloway beat Dustin Poirier in a unanimous decision to keep the UFC BMF championship at UFC 318 at the King Center smoothie.

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Holloway’s victory is the first in three fights against Poirier, who beat him in 2012 and 2019.

Holloway (28-8) has retained its BMF title after winning 98 additional strikes (201-109) and landing 53% of its important strikes.

Fighting against a crowded crowd from Louisiana for the native son Poirier in his retirement match, Holloway was the fastest fighter for the whole match, eliminating Poirier at the start of the first round.

In the second, another burst of combinations put Poirier on the carpet, followed by two minutes of dominant grappling.

The best chance of Poirier came in the last 30 seconds of the second round, obtaining Holloway on the ground with a strangulation and several punches before the end of the Tour.

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The loss ends a brilliant career for Poirier, who ended his career with a 30-10 file. Poirier, the acting champion of the UFC Lightweight in 2019, also beat Connor McGregor twice in addition to the victories on Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler.

In the co-printing event, Paulo Costa (15-4) made a sequence of three defeats, beating Roman Kopylov for a victory for the average weight division by a unanimous decision.

Daniel Rodriguez (20-5) won his third consecutive fight after a unanimous decision on Kevin Holland in action of Welters in a significant upheaval. Rodriguez was +425 to win the fight, but beat Holland (28-14), who lost his second fight in 2025.

In the featherweight division, Patricio Freire beat Dan Ige with a unanimous decision. Freire (37-8) dominated the three-round combat, removing IgE five times.

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The main five -fighting card has opened its doors with an unanimous decision -making decision by Michael Johnson against Daniel Zellhuber in light action. Johnson opened the +475 fight according to Bet MGM. Johnson (25-19) won 81 strikes against only 52 from Zellhuber when he won his third consecutive fight.

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