‘I’m so sorry’: Holloway’s classy act as Poirier falls short of title dream

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as one of the “baddest mother**ers” the UFC has ever seen took his gloves off for the final time.

Dustin Poirier retires from the UFC one of the “baddest mother**ers’ the promotion has ever seen. But he isn’t the baddest.

That title still belongs to Max Holloway after the former featherweight champion defended his crown via unanimous decision in the UFC 318 main event on Sunday, which also doubled as Poirier’s final fight.

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It was the third time the two had met, with Poirier winning the previous two fights after submitting Holloway in the 33-year-old’s UFC debut and then later defeating him by unanimous decision seven years later with the interim lightweight title on the line.

A classy Holloway had a few words for the crowd before quickly handing the microphone over to Poirier.

“First things first, I love you Louisiana. I know I had to be the villain. I’m so sorry,” Holloway said.

“But thank you for the hospitality. All I’m going to say is a lot of motherf***ers coming after this belt, come get me and I’ve got some issue with the champ, so UFC you’re moving next.

“This ain’t my moment. I’m done talking, this is Dustin’s retirement fight. Give it up for the man.”

When Poirier stepped up to the microphone, he wasn’t as emotional as he was after the UFC played a tribute video to the 36-year-old on the big screen, although even then he was able to hold the tears in as he reflected on all he had achieved in his career.

“It’s been overwhelming honestly. I feel appreciated. I feel seen,” Poirier said.

“I’ve never been able to step outside of fighting and look at it this way honestly. I’ve been going through fighting and trying to grind to the next thing and provide for me and the family.

“I’ve never been able to get it from third person. This week has been incredible. I feel loved by the fans, Louisiana and the company. I didn’t know I’d touched as many people as I had by chasing my dreams. I’m grateful... I love you all.”

Holloway had the first big moment of the fight, dropping Poirier early in the first round and then continued to pour on the pressure in the second.

The champion had all the momentum at that point until Poirier sent Holloway to the canvas in the final stages of the round and immediately jumped on the guillotine attempt.

When he realised he didn’t have enough time to lock it in Poirier transitioned to the ground and pound, unleashing a series of brutal elbows but Holloway was able to make it to the bell.

It was the closest Poirier got to finishing Holloway, with the champion having particular success working to the body as he outlasted a determined Poirier to claim the win.

Australian Alexander Volkanovski had predicted Holloway would spoil Poirier’s final fight and it was a striking clinic from the BMF champion, who had the advantage 113-99 in significant head strikes, 46-5 in significant body strikes and 23-9 in leg kicks.

“He’s coming off the first knockout loss ever. Not many people can bounce back from that,” Volkanovski said on Fight Week.

“A lot of people change after that. But there’s only few that can bounce back in a positive way, and I know he’s one of them.

“I know he’ll be the type of guy to make the right adjustments or come back not only the same guy he was, maybe even look better. You might see Max even better.

“I think he’s that type of guy that can come back with a bounce back – not only bounce back to where he was, which was already incredible, but bounce back even more than that. If he does that, it just shows you how good that bloke is.”

COSTA CALLS OUT ‘MOTHERF***ER’ CHIMAEV IN CO-MAIN EVENT

Earlier, Paulo Costa beat middleweight contender Roman Kopylov with a solid showing of striking in the co-main event, winning via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

The Brazilian then called out Khamzat Chimaev, as expected, telling foxsports.com.au earlier in the week of his plans should he reign supreme on Sunday.

He also previously declared on Ariel Helwani’s show that “win or lose, I want to fight that motherf***er”.

In fact, Costa went as far as to say he wants a shot at Chimaev more than he wants a fight for the world title.

“I don’t care about the title. I care, but this is most important to me,” he said.

Speaking after his win, Costa doubled down.

“Everybody knows I hate that guy, everybody knows who. That motherf****r Chimaev, yeah. He is a big a*****e,”

“You know my wife is over here, he DM her. This is not good. This is bad thing in every culture, he says bad things about me, about her.

“But he never says (it) to me because he is a coward. Chimaev you are a coward and I’m here, I’m going to look for you, I am going to chase for you.

“I will not stop until I get to you.”

CRUTE CAN SEE A WORLD TITLE IN HIS FUTURE FOR THE ‘FIRST TIME’

Australian Jimmy Crute said he can picture a world title in his future for the “first time” in his career after securing his first win in the UFC since 2020 on Sunday.

Crute submitted the tricky Marcin Prachnio with a nasty armbar late in the first round of their UFC 318 fight on the early prelims, showing off his grappling skills early in the fight to take control before getting the finish.

“The armbar used to be my move,” Crute said in his post-fight press conference.

“I used to hit everyone with the armbars earlier in my career. I sort of went away from it because you lose position but he gave it to me and I went thank you.

“As soon as I got it I’m like, ‘Oh he’s not going to tap and I have to do some damage here’. Instead of reefing on it too early though I tried to play the position, get it nice and secure and then rip on it.”

An honest Crute admitted that it had been a “rollercoaster” of a week, with so much on the line for the 29-year-old given his recent run of results inside the octagon.

“The nerves were up and down,” Crute said.

“I’ve sort of played it off before, but getting a victory does mean a lot because I put so much work into this. I really put everything into this man. Every waking moment I’m training or I’m thinking about training. So for it to pay off is just nice.”

Crute’s last win came via a first-round knockout of Modestas Bukauskas almost five years ago, with the Australian recording two draws and three losses since that point.

Crute called out fellow light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby after the victory, challenging him ahead of the UFC’s Fight Night card in Perth in September.

“I just think it’s a good fight for both of us,” Crute said.

“It’s a good test for both of us. I know that’s not an easy fight, he’s a hell of a crafty dude. So that’s just the name that came to my head. I didn’t think about it beforehand. But when I was in the moment, it just popped into my head.”

While Crute’s career trajectory seemed to have stalled in recent years, the Australian was once one of the UFC’s most-highly rated prospects and was even ranked ESPN’s top MMA fighter under 25 in 2020.

That was despite Crute effectively “learning on the job” and it is why the Bendigo brawler feels like he still has a run towards the title left in him.

“I had one amateur fight, seven pro wins and outside of that I had like 50 jujitsu matches on the regional scene in Australia, no striking matches. So I’ve been learning on the job pretty much in the UFC,” Crute said.

“I don’t have much experience in the way of fights so I feel like it’s my time to shine now. I see a world title in my picture for the first time in my career. I’ve never been able to visualise it and I see it there.”

Originally published as ‘I’m so sorry’: Holloway’s classy act as Poirier falls short of title dream