UFC 318 Results: Holloway Outshines Poirier in Epic Retirement Bout

UFC 318 Results are in: Max Holloway defeats Dustin Poirier by unanimous decision in emotional trilogy finale. Dive into fight stats, Poirier’s farewell, undercard results, and what’s next.

🥊 Holloway vs Poirier Context

Event: UFC 318: Holloway vs Poirier 3 took place July 19, 2025 at Smoothie King Center, New Orleans .
Main Event: Trilogy clash — Holloway vs. Poirier — with Holloway’s BMF title and Poirier’s final fight on the line.

⚔️ Holloway vs Poirier – Main Event

Result: Max Holloway won via unanimous decision (49‑47, 49‑47, 48‑47) .
Fight Dynamics:
- Early Dominance: Holloway floored Poirier in Round 1 and again in Round 2 .
- Poirier’s Response: He nearly secured a guillotine choke and dropped Holloway later in Round 2.
- Final Rounds: Both fighters exchanged heavy strikes; Holloway maintained higher output (~201 vs 109 strikes, 53% accuracy) .
Highlights: Emotional final 15 seconds saw a mutual slugfest before the final bell .

🥲 Poirier’s Farewell

Retirement Moment: After the verdict, Poirier placed his gloves in the Octagon, embraced loved ones, and officially retired as the crowd roared.
Legacy Tribute: UFC notables like Islam Makhachev and Jon Jones paid tribute, calling him “one of the greats” .

📋 UFC 318 Results Judges

Two judges scored 49‑47, one 48‑47 in Holloway’s favor.
Poirier felt the official scorecards underrate his performance and that Round 2 was closer than depicted .
Dana White echoed that view, stating the fight “felt much closer” than the scores reflect .

📈 Significant Stats

Fighter	Significant Strikes	Accuracy	Knockdowns	Fight Duration
Max Holloway	~201	53%	2	5 rounds
Dustin Poirier	~109	—	1	Final fight

#UFC318 Official Scorecard: Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) vs Dustin Poirier

Complete Scorecards ➡️ https://t.co/GQLoLaheww pic.twitter.com/VYKoPrFkNB

— UFC News (@UFCNews) July 20, 2025

🥇 Undercard Highlights

Paulo Costa def. Roman Kopylov – unanimous decision
Daniel Rodriguez def. Kevin Holland
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire def. Dan Ige
Michael Johnson def. Daniel Zellhuber

Bonus round: Brendan Allen vs Marvin Vettori earned Fight of the Night .

🏆 What This Means

Holloway: Secured his first win over Poirier in the trilogy; retains BMF belt; potential future lightweight title contention .
Poirier: Retires with a 30–10 record, tie for 22 UFC wins (third all-time), and legacy solidified .

💬 Quotes & Reactions

Poirier:

“I feel appreciated… I feel seen… I didn’t know I touched as many people.”.
Dana White:

“The fight felt much closer… two judges had it 4‑1, surprising us all.” .
MMA Community:

“One of the greatest fighters… an end of a remarkable era.”.