UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2
Dustin Poirier defeats Max Holloway by Decision (unanimous)
Round 5 · 5:00
Poirier vs Holloway — Interim Lightweight Title · UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2
What happened
The result, the defining moments, and what the verdict means.
Poirier landed power shots in the opening round that hurt Holloway and established the damage edge at lightweight.
Holloway's durability allowed him to rebuild momentum with accurate combinations and sustained output through the middle rounds.
Both men kept finding surges through the championship rounds, but Poirier's broader body of work earned the interim belt.
- Official UFC featureUFC Fight of the Night power rankings
Pre-fight analysis — how we saw it going in
Case for Poirier
Poirier's path was the lightweight power edge. Holloway could out-volume almost anyone at featherweight, but Poirier's counters, jab and left hand gave every exchange a different consequence at 155 pounds.
Case for Holloway
Holloway's case was pace. If he could survive Poirier's early damage and force the fight into the deeper rounds, his volume and cardio could turn the interim title fight from a power matchup into an attritional one.
What We Were Watching For
- Poirier's early left hand and right hook, which immediately test Holloway at lightweight.
- Holloway's third-round surge, where the volume begins to look like his usual winning rhythm.
- The fourth-round knee and cut, the clearest late moment that swings the title fight back to Poirier.
Records & career stats
- 25-5-0
- Record
- 20-3-0
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- Recent formRecent formWin–loss record over the fighter’s last five bouts, newest first, as carried in their UFC/FightMetric career stats.
- 3-2 last 5
- United States
- Nationality
- USA
- —
- Age
- 34
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- Height
- 1.80 m
- —
- Reach
- 175 cm
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- 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.
- Orthodox
- —
- 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.
- Source pending
- —
- Wins by KO/TKOKO wins
- —
- —
- Wins by submissionSub wins
- 2
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- Sig. strikes landed / minStr / 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.
- 6.92
- —
- Sig. strikes absorbed / minAbs / 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.
- 4.60
- —
- 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.
- 59%
- —
- Takedown defenseTD def.Takedown defenseThe percentage of opponents’ takedown attempts that are stuffed. Higher means harder to put on the mat. From UFC/FightMetric.
- 81%
- —
- 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.
- 16:11
Career stats per UFC.com; recent form is each fighter's last five bouts. Record is as of fight night; career stats, recent form and win totals are the latest on file and may include this fight. 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.
Videos
Outcome footage, post-fight coverage, and the pre-fight lead-up.
Before the fight (1)
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