Dustin Poirier refuses to let MMA retire him.
After establishing himself as one of the thrilling and beloved fighters of the previous 13 years, ‘The Diamond’ will lay down his gloves for good in his native New Orleans. However not earlier than headlining yet one more pay-per-view occasion.
This Saturday, Poirier closes out each his profession and his trilogy with former featherweight king Max Holloway in a BMF title conflict at UFC 318.
At 36 years outdated, Poirier continues to be competing on the high of his sport, most not too long ago taking former light-weight champion Islam Makhachev into the fifth spherical earlier than succumbing to a d’arce choke. However as a substitute of permitting the game to determine when it’s time to stroll away, the previous interim titleholder is taking destiny into his personal palms and selecting to retire whereas he nonetheless has loads of combat left in him.
“I don’t need the game to chew me up,” Poirier mentioned in the course of the UFC 318 media day. “I need to stroll away—I don’t need it to retire me.”
“Anytime you noticed my title on a combat card, you knew it was going to be a conflict. I hope folks keep in mind me as a warrior. I didn’t minimize corners. I all the time gave it my all.”
Dustin Poirier can shut out his profession with a clear sweep of Max Holloway
With greater than 30 UFC fights below his belt, Poirier has waged wars with a few of the greatest within the enterprise, together with The Korean Zombie, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, Michael Chandler, and, in fact, Conor McGregor.
He enters his retirement bout already 2-0 towards Holloway, having overwhelmed ‘Blessed’ by way of submission in 2012 and a unanimous choice in 2019.
