Max Holloway retains UFC BMF title, spoils Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight

After landing 98 more strikes (201–109) and 53% of his significant strikes, Holloway (28–8) kept his BMF title.

Holloway, who was the faster boxer the entire time, knocked Poirier off his feet early in the first round of his retirement bout against a fanatical Louisiana crowd cheering for the native son.

Poirier was once more on the mat after a series of combinations in the second, which was followed by two minutes of dominant wrestling.

“I’m quite content,” Holloway remarked. He stated Poirier is still capable of hitting hard. “However, he continued returning. I knew going in that I would try to be the villain and the spoiler.

In the final 30 seconds of the second round, Poirier had his greatest opportunity, putting Holloway on the ground with a chokehold and a series of ground punches before the time was over.

Poirier’s stellar career comes to an end with the loss; he ends with a 30-10 record. In addition to defeating Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje, Poirier, the 2019 UFC Lightweight Interim Champion, has triumphed twice over Connor McGregor.

“I obviously wanted to win, but I felt the fight was much closer because I was in the center of the storm,” Poirier said. We were unable to hear the bell, so I believed I had him out in the second round. It felt like a much closer contest. But it is what it is.

I believed it was close going into the fifth round. I think I might have endangered myself far more. Though I didn’t want to take too many chances, I could have taken more chances. I believed I fought well. I made an effort to prevail.

Paulo Costa (15-4) ended a three-fight losing record in the co-main event by unanimously defeating Roman Kopylov to win the middleweight class.

In a major upset, Daniel Rodriguez (20-5) defeated Kevin Holland via majority decision in welterweight action to win his third straight bout. Holland (28-14), who lost his second fight of 2025, was defeated by Rodriguez, who was +425 to win the bout.

Patricio Freire defeated Dan Ige by unanimous decision in the featherweight class. Ige was defeated five times by Freire (37-8), who controlled the three-round bout.

In the lightweight event, Michael Johnson shocked Daniel Zellhuber with a unanimous decision to open the five-fight main card. The fight was opened by Johnson +475 according to Bet MGM. Johnson (25-19) won for the third time in a row, landing 81 strikes against Zellhuber’s 52.

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