As Dustin Poirier ends his career in his home state, the Diamond’s final fight as one of the best UFC lightweights in history was celebrated all throughout fight week as many of Poirier’s peers reminisce on his career. On the other side, Max “Blessed” Holloway looked to play spoilers in New Orleans as the former UFC featherweight champion and #5 ranked lightweight aimed to get his revenge against the man who is 2-0 against him. 

With two fan favorites being pitted against each other one final time, it was tough to predict who would come out on top in the UFC’s most recent stop to New Orleans. 

Michael Johnson defeats Daniel Zellhuber via unanimous decision

Johnson would open up round three with the same gameplan, despite Zellhuber appearing to implement more pressure against the UFC veteran. Despite the age, size and odds being stacked against him, Johnson would show the fans he hasn’t lost a step as he would end the fight seemingly 2-1 against Zellhuber. 

The Menace would defeat Golden Boy by unanimous decision in his longest win streak since 2018. This fight tied Michael Johnson with Melvin Guillard for the most knockdowns in UFC lightweight history (13). 

Patricio Pitbull defeated Dan Ige via unanimous decision

looking to bounce back after an underwhelming performance against Yair Rodriguez, Patricio Pitbull squared off against the Hawaiian, Dan Ige. 

Both fighters began round one feeling each other out as both seemed very hesitant to make a big move. Pitbull would eventually land a takedown less than halfway through the first that showed some advantages he may have against Hawaii’s Ige. With the constant feints and grappling ability presented by Pitbull, Ige was appeared less than eager to strike with the former Bellator champion as the first round ended In Pitbull’s favor. 

Ige opened round two with more volume than the last, backing up Pitbull. The Brazilian Pitbull would turn up the volume after rocking Ige with an uppercut halfway through the fight, but failed to capitalize. After taking Ige to the ground with less than a minute into the second round, Pitbull would end round two strong against the Hawaiian. 

Before round three began, Dan Ige’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, urged his fighter to increase his movement, believing to be the key to victory. With Ige landing a hard knee to Pitbull’s nose, the round seemed to sway in favor of 50k as even Pitbull’s grappling wasn’t enough to keep down the Hawaiian. As Anik pointed out Pitbull could be up 2-0, Ige would increase his output to try and counter the heavy grappling of his opponent. 

Despite a solid performance by Ige, Patricio Pitbull would win the bout by unanimous decision 29-28 as the takedowns and control time by the Brazilian gave him the victory. 

Daniel Rodriguez defeated Kevin Holland via unanimous decision

The featured bout would contest Kevin “Trailblazer” Holland against Daniel “D-Rod” Rodriguez. 

The fight began in normal Holland fashion as the fighter nicknamed “Big Mouth” kept trying to converse with D-Rod while fighting. Both Holland and Rodriguez traded back and forth through the first round as various kicks were traded by both fighters. Despite Holland controlling the majority of the first, it wasn’t without consequences as D-Rod would catch Holland coming in range with punches of his own. 

With round one being too close to call, round two was more important for both fighters to make a statement and shift the fight in their favor. D-Rod would catch Holland with a thunderous left hook that dropped Trailblazer; as Rodriguez poured on the pressure, Holland was on wobbly legs as the fan favorite was shaken badly. Holland would land a double-leg takedown on D-rod with roughly 90 seconds remaining, but was unable to shift the fight in his favor. 

Round three began with D-Rod continuing the pressure on Holland. With 90 seconds passed, Holland would hurt Rodriguez with a punch to the face, stumbling Rodriguez against the cage. Despite being hurt, Rodriguez kept fighting back but was unable to mount any offense, despite a late scramble into full mount late into the third round. With both being exhausted and hurt, the California native, Rodriguez, would end round three in full mount with ground-and-pound to finish the fight. 

Daniel Rodriguez would win by unanimous decision (29-28), as a potential ranking could be his way in the following week. 

Paulo Costa defeated Roman Kopylov via unanimous decision

In Paulo Costa’s first fight since June 2024, the former title challenger faced the surging Roman Kopylov in the co-main event at UFC 318. 

Costa began round one by immediately pressuring Kopylov before being countered with a left cross. Halfway through the first round, Costa’s repeated leg kicks began to take effect as Kopylov struggled to get his momentum going. After dropping Kopylov late in the first round, the fight began to shift in Costa’s favor with the Russian being unable to implement his striking. 

Round two began in similar fashion as Costa kept using his kicks and blitz that made Kopylov hesitant to attack. Despite having his moments in the second round, the constant pressure by Costa forced Kopylov to fight a style unfamiliar to him as he never seemed to get out of survival mode. 

In round three, Kopylov’s chances dwindled as the Russian fighter couldn’t set the pace of the fight in his favor. With Costa nearing triple digit strikes in the third, Kopylov landed a right hand that wobbled Costa. With Kopylov implementing more pressure, Costa answered back out-striking his opponent in every round. 

Costa would win the bout by unanimous decision, with the 34 year old fighter showing old form that made him a fan favorite years ago. 

Max Holloway defeats Dustin Poirier via unanimous decision to retain BMF title

In the final fight of his legendary career, Dustin Poirier fought Max Holloway for the third time with two iconic fan-favorites going at it  for the final time. With Poirier being met with cheers by his hometown crowd, Holloway was drowned out by a chorus of boos before the fight could even begin. 

To begin round one, Poirier used his hard nosed style he’s known for by punishing Holloway’s legs with kicks. Ninety seconds in, Poirier got knocked down before getting back to his feet, showing how much Holloway has grown since the last two fights. With two minutes left, Holloway started implementing his body kicks to keep Poirier at bay and controlled. With round one over, Holloway controlled the fight with his pressure that never allowed Poirier to recover after being knocked down. 

Round two began with Holloway throwing his signature striking combinations, while Poirier was looking to get momentum going in his favor. Poirier would get wobbled by a thunderous right hand that pushed the Diamond to the cage, leading to Holloway taking the fight to the ground. As Poirier and Holloway got back to his feet, Poirier would hurt the pride of Hawaii, leading to a knockdown and jumping for a guillotine choke before the horn. 

Chaos would continue in round three as Poirier began pressure Holloway against the cage with both trading strikes throughout. Despite Holloway landing his sequences, it wasn’t enough to deter the Diamond from his game-plan. Poirier continued to land his jabs and power shots, but the activity of Holloway was enough to give him round three. 

With championship rounds beginning, Holloway would press forward in round four but would get caught by Poirier coming in. As Poirier began to get closer, the Diamond released an onslaught of striking against Holloway, forcing him to back up. While Dustin kept landing his shots, Holloway kept up the volume as the UFC’s leading striker was nearing more than 140 strikes before the end of the fourth round. 

In the fifth and final round, Din Thomas noted how Poirier’s forward pressure may be getting to Max Holloway, saying that he’ll continue to push forward for the last five minutes. As the Diamond pressured Holloway, the damage was starting to show as the blood was beginning to drip down the Hawaiian’s face. As the ninety second mark came to, both Holloway and Poirier were trading hard shots down the stretch as the two baddest fighters on the planet laid it all on the line to close out the trilogy. And in true Max Holloway fashion, he would point down to the ground and challenge Poirier to stand and trade blows with him for the final ten seconds. 

With the scorecards being read, Max Holloway would win the fight by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) and retain the BMF title. This is Dustin Poirier’s first back-to-back losses in his professional MMA career.