Dustin Poirier Recalls His Wife’s Warning When Max Holloway Pointed Down at UFC 318
Dustin Poirier recently revealed that his wife, Jolie Poirier, asked him specifically not to stand and trade in the pocket with Max Holloway at UFC 318.
For Poirier’s farewell fight, he met BMF champion Holloway at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 19, 2025, to complete their trilogy.
Although ‘The Diamond’ had won in their previous two outings, this time, ‘Blessed’ did as he promised and spoiled the Louisiana native’s last dance by cruising to a unanimous decision victory.
In the final ten seconds of the bout, Holloway did what he always does, pointing to the canvas and daring his opponent to meet him in the center of the octagon for a final stand-and-bang exchange. Reflecting on the final ten seconds of his trilogy bout with Holloway, Dustin Poirier recently revealed in an interview what he was thinking at that moment:
“I knew it was coming, but when he started pointing down, I was like, ‘hold on, let me check the clock. No way, there are 10 seconds left?’ I didn’t hear the clap. I don’t want to point down with 20 seconds left.”
‘The Diamond’ didn’t want to share the same fate as Justin Gaethje. Previously at UFC 300, ‘The Highlight’ accepted Holloway’s invitation and was knocked out cold with just one second left on the clock.
Dustin Poirier’s wife told him not to stand and trade with Max Holloway when ‘Blessed’ points down
The 36-year-old also revealed in the same interview that his wife had specifically warned him not to stand and bang when Holloway points to the center of the octagon.
“I’m thinking of Justin Gaethje, lying face down. My wife told me too, the night before ‘when he points down, don’t do it.’ She was like, ‘you don’t point down, you don’t do it either.’ And I knew it was going to happen.”
Holloway, who hails himself as the best boxer in the promotion, came out on top against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318, consistently landing the sharper combinations even in the pocket. As a result, Poirier opted to clinch in the end. He added:
“So when he pointed down, which I knew was coming, I had to double check to make sure we didn’t have 15 or 16, 17 seconds on the clock. I am only gonna throw for 10 seconds. Then he started eating me up in the pocket. That’s where I do my best work. He was lighting me up there. So I had to clinch him.”
Check out Dustin Poirier’s comments below:
