This highly anticipated matchup marks the third meeting between the two fan favorites and will serve as Poirier’s farewell fight on the sport’s biggest stage.
Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) announced the date, location and opponent for his retirement fight against Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) on Friday during an appearance on the "Pat McAfee Show" from the NFL draft in Green Bay, Wisc. The proud Louisiana native is slated to announce a draft pick for the New Orleans Saints.
"The Diamond" initially teased retirement prior to his fifth-round submission loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in June 2024. After discussions with his family, however, Poirier declared he would compete one last time and publicly pushed for the UFC to come back to New Orleans for the first time since June 2015.
Poirier, 36, said his only other caveat for his final fight was to be matched up with a "legend," and he will get just that with former longtime featherweight champion Holloway, 33, whom he has defeated twice already.
The first showdown between them happened at UFC 143 in February 2012 in the 145-pound division. Then-23-year-old Poirier spoiled the short-notice octagon debut of a then-20-year-old Holloway, who succumbed to a first-round submission.
A rematch would align at UFC 236 in April 2019, but under vastly different circumstances. With then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov unavailable, Poirier was inserted into an interim lightweight title bout against Holloway, who was featherweight champion and riding a 13-fight winning streak.
The pair put on a bloody Fight of the Year contender, with Poirier emerging by unanimous decision to snap Holloway's streak and set himself up for a unification bout against Nurmagomedov, where he ultimately fell short.
Now Poirier and Holloway will meet again for the third and final time, a total of 4,914 days after the first contest. It marks the longest-spanning trilogy in UFC history.
Both men have experienced highs, lows, greatness, disappointment and some of the biggest moments to happen in the octagon since the memorable rematch more than six years ago.
