Max Holloway defeats Dustin Poirier by Decision (unanimous)
Holloway vs Poirier — BMF Title · UFC 318
What happened
The result, the defining moments, and what the verdict means.
The retiring Poirier and Holloway completed their five-round trilogy fight in New Orleans.
The contest remained competitive as Holloway worked through Poirier's late second-round success.
Holloway earned the unanimous decision, defended the BMF title and recorded his first win in the series.
- Official UFC resultsUFC 318: Holloway vs Poirier 3 — Main Card Results
Watch
The full fight.
More videos · 2 clips
Signature moments
Signature moments
Analysts
No verified pre-fight analyst picks are logged for this historical bout.
Track record rows appear only when a timestamped source has been reviewed.
Archive Pre-fight material — kept for transparency.
- 27-8-0
- Record
- 30-10-0
- 3-2 last 5
- Recent formRecent formWin–loss record over the fighter’s last five bouts, newest first, as carried in their UFC/FightMetric career stats.
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- 34
- Age
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- 1.80 m
- Height
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- 175 cm
- Reach
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- Orthodox
- StanceStanceWhich side a fighter leads from — a striking term, not a religious one. Orthodox: right-handed, left foot and hand forward (the common default). Southpaw: the mirror image, right side forward (usually a left-hander). Switch: changes between the two during a fight.
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- 54%
- Finish rateFinish %Finish rateThe share of a fighter’s wins that ended inside the distance — by KO/TKO or submission — rather than going to the judges’ scorecards. Higher means more finishes.
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- 13
- Wins by KO/TKOKO/TKO wins
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- 2
- Wins by submissionSub wins
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- 6.91
- Sig. strikes landed / minStrikes / minSignificant strikes landed per minuteAverage number of significant strikes a fighter lands for every minute of fight time — a read on striking output and pace. From UFC/FightMetric career stats.
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- 4.61
- Sig. strikes absorbed / minAbsorbed / minSignificant strikes absorbed per minuteAverage number of significant strikes a fighter takes for every minute of fight time. Lower is better — it means they get hit less often. From UFC/FightMetric career stats.
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- 59%
- Striking defenseStrike def.Striking defenseThe percentage of opponents’ significant strikes that do not land — strikes slipped, blocked or evaded. Higher is better. Not the same as striking accuracy, which counts your own strikes that land. From UFC/FightMetric.
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- 81%
- Takedown defenseTD def.Takedown defenseThe percentage of opponents’ takedown attempts that are stuffed. Higher means harder to put on the mat. From UFC/FightMetric.
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- 16:39
- Avg. fight timeAvg. timeAverage fight timeThe mean length of the fighter’s bouts (minutes:seconds) — a rough read on whether they tend to finish early or go the distance. From UFC/FightMetric.
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- USA
- Nationality
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Career stats per UFC.com; recent form is each fighter's last five bouts. Numbers reflect records coming into fight night. Bars compare each stat on a fixed scale; the “Edge” marker flags the leading corner where the gap is meaningful. The snapshot plots five career rates — output, striking defense, durability (strikes absorbed, inverted), takedown defense and finish rate — each normalised on its own scale.
Pre-fight analysis — how we saw it going in
Case for Holloway
Holloway's case was activity without recklessness. After two losses to Poirier, he needed to keep the boxing volume high, attack the body and win enough long exchanges that Poirier's single power moments did not define the scorecards.
Case for Poirier
Poirier still had the heavier hands and the emotional home-state farewell behind him. His best route was to make Holloway respect the counter fire, turn exchanges into pocket trades and land the kind of late-round damage that had decided their second meeting.
What We Were Watching For
- Whether Holloway's early knockdown lets him dictate the pace or draws him into a brawl.
- Poirier's late-round answers, especially when Holloway starts stringing combinations together.
- How the final round is scored in a close, mostly stand-up BMF title fight.
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