Whether or not it’s Max Holloway or Dustin Poirier who will get their hand raised, the true winner would be the followers.
The Diamond’ makes his last stroll to the Octagon this Saturday evening in his native New Orleans, headlining UFC 318 contained in the Smoothie King Middle. Standing in Poirier’s method of an enormous win in his MMA swan track will likely be Holloway — a person who’s already gone toe-to-toe with the ex-interim champion twice earlier than.
Poirier goes into the trilogy combat with a 2-0 lead over the previous featherweight titleholder, however whether or not he accomplishes the clear sweep or not, followers are undoubtedly in for a deal with.
At the least, that’s what Eddie Alvarez thinks, however you’d be hard-pressed to discover a fan who disagrees.
“On the finish of the day, the individuals who win in that is going to be the followers,” Alvarez instructed The Schmo. “It’s not going to be Dustin or Max. The winners of this—the true winners—are going to be the followers the evening of the combat.”
Dustin Poirier Able to cap off his profession with a BMF title victory Over Max Holloway
Alvarez is aware of a factor or two about simply how powerful ‘The Diamond’ is, stepping contained in the Octagon with Poirier on two separate events throughout his four-year run with the promotion. Whereas their first scrap resulted in an unlucky no-contest following an unlawful knee, they might run it again a yr later with Poirier incomes a second-round TKO over ‘The Underground King.’
Since then, Poirier has added a slew of highlight-reel finishes to his resume, together with back-to-back knockouts of Conor McGregor in 2021.
He additionally choked out Michael Chandler and landed an insane come-from-behind knockout towards Benoit Saint-Denis, securing a title alternative towards then-lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Regardless of a valiant effort, Poirier succumbed to a submission within the fifth spherical, bringing an finish to his six-year bid to change into an undisputed titleholder.
Whereas Poirier by no means captured the 155-pound crown, he’ll nonetheless have the prospect to retire as a champion when Holloway places his bragging rights belt — the BMF title — on the road in NOLA.
