The incredible career of Dustin Poirier is coming to an end after the main event of UFC 318.
After being beaten by Islam Makhachev last year, Poirier considered retiring if he fell short when the lightweight title challenged.
'The Diamond' finally decided that with at least another big night he wanted to go out, with the UFC helping compiling a dream -left chapter for Poirier.
Going out for a victory for his home fans in Louisiana would be a story book that ends, but Max Holloway will have other plans while he wants to bounce back the previous time out.
While the two men are preparing to compete for the BMF belt, the man who recently left his 155-pound title shared his thoughts about the matchup.
Islam Makhachev supports Dustin Poirier to win his pension fight after he has become friends with his former opponent
Speaking with Okko.Mma, Islam Makhachev recently weighed his thoughts about the upcoming UFC 318 main event.
There was no bad blood between him and Dustin Poirier on UFC 302 outside the normal voltage that comes with a large UFC title fight.
In fact, Makhachev revealed in the interview that he rooted for 'The Diamond' who has made an unlikely friendship with his former enemy.
Different messages on social media have somewhat quoted different translations from his comments, although the general explanation is largely the same.
“Poirier is my guy. I support him 100%,” says Makhachev by Red Corner MMA. “We send each other texts. If this is his last fight, I think he will be at its peak, he will give his absolutely best.
With that in mind it is not surprising to hear that the former lightweight champion believes that Poirier is at the top in his last fight.
He believes that his former challenger should adhere to the same approach that he used in his previous victory over Max Holloway to prevent 'blessed' to implement his constant pace and output.
“He has eliminated him before.
“Both are difficult to complete. Both can take a blow. Neither of them have a very powerful knockout punch, but they strike accurately. Both work more in the stand-up. I think it will be technical. Who will spend who.”
Chael Sonnen also chose Dustin Poirier after the consistent support of Max Holloway in the past
UFC legend Chael Sonnen also predicted Dustin Poirier to raise his hand on the basis of his earlier fights with Max Holloway.
Sonnen has supported Holloway in the past in some of his most difficult matchups, but in a recent interview he claimed that he has no reason to believe that this outcome will be different from the first two meetings in their trilogy.
“Dustin Poirier will beat Max Holloway for the third time,” said Sonnen. “That is my official prediction.
“It is not a comment at all about Max's skills. It is the fact that they did not fight once, but twice,” Sonnen went on. “It is not in the mood for (the first two fights) where you can identify something … There was nothing to lead a trained eye to believe if you do this again, you will have a different result.”
For UFC 318, Holloway has stated that one of his most important motivations for this fight avoids 0-3 in two trilogies during his career.