Dustin Poirier has had an amazing career inside the Octagon. From the time he turned pro in the sport of MMA in 2009 up until his final career appearance on July 19, one thing was certain: When Poirier walked into the cage, viewers had to have their popcorn ready.
Ahead of his final fight, Poirier made it known on a broadcast of ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show originating from outside the NFL Draft stage at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI that the contest would be a “home game” in Louisiana.
“The whole journey started there,” Dustin Poirier said about fighting in Louisiana. “I’m just honored that the UFC on the same page and the state of Louisiana on the same page to make this work. I didn’t know if it was going to all come together, but it did.”
UFC318 – Holloway vs Poirier 3 NEW ORLEANS, LA – JULY 19 : Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier meet in the octagon for a 5-round BMF title main event bout for UFC318 – Holloway vs Poirier 3 at Smoothie King Center on July 19, 2025 in New Orleans, LA Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/ABACAPRESS.COM New Orleans, LA NEW ORLEANS, LA United States PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxUK Copyright: xPXxImages/ABACAx
With “The Diamond’s” career now one for the history books, let’s take this time to open up the vault and have a look back on Dustin Poirier’s amazing career in the sport of MMA.
Dustin Poirier: The Early Years
Born in January of 1989, Poirier grew up in Lafayette, LA, but it was during his freshman year of high school that the seeds were sewn for his competitive spirit. He found himself getting disciplined in school and got into fisticuffs with other members of the student body.
From there, Dustin Poirier left school to eventually turn his sights toward the sport of MMA, going 6-0 as an amateur competitor. By age 20, “The Diamond’s” professional career began. In the earliest days of his stint in the world of competitive violence, quick finishes were the order of the day for him.
On May 16, 2009, he made his pro debut against Aaron Suarez in USA MMA 7, finishing him in 79 seconds with a knockout. He’d make four appearances in USA MMA, winning all of them. In June of 2009, he followed the knockout up by submitting Nate Jolly (armbar) during the second round.
By the time the calendar turned to August of 2010, Dustin Poirier amassed seven wins in succession, with five of them coming inside the opening round of the contest.
WEC Comes Calling for Dustin Poirier, Leading to UFC Stint
In August of 2010, the then-7-0 Poirier got his first taste of major MMA. The late World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) signed him to a contract, but it was also where he tasted defeat for the first time in his career.
That summer night, he dropped a unanimous decision to Danny Castillo after three rounds. Three months later, Poirier recovered quite nicely with a first-round knockout (punches) over Zach Micklewright in 53 seconds’ time. Not long before, the WEC and UFC merged, with the merger being official as of New Year’s Day, 2011.
It was on New Year’s Day of 2011 where Poirier made his UFC debut versus Josh Grispi on UFC 125’s late prelims on Ion Television. Under the Ion spotlight, Dustin Poirier scored a unanimous decision after three rounds on the scorecards. Upon picking up wins against Jason Young and Pablo Garza, the latter being during the first UFC show on FOX, a gripping MMA rivalry began.
Dustin Poirier Bests Max Holloway in First Head-to-Head Meeting
In February of 2012, Poirier made the walk to the fabled Octagon for the first of what would eventually be three contests versus Max Holloway in UFC 143. On the night before Super Bowl XLVI, Poirier scored a touchdown of his own, stopping “Blessed” with a triangle armbar submission inside the fight’s opening round.
He would, however, find himself on the losing end of a technical submission by way of brabo choke against “The Korean Zombie”, Chan Sung Jung in the fourth round of the May 15, 2012 main event on the late Fuel TV. Poirier flipped the script the next time out by locking in a brabo choke submission of his own versus Jonathan Brookins in The Ultimate Fighter live finale that December.
“The Diamond” Rolls to Three-Fight Winning Streak Before Losing to “The Notorious”
Upon dropping a unanimous decision to Cub Swanson in February of 2013, Poirier got his hand raised late that summer with a unanimous decision win over Erik Koch at UFC 164. This was the beginning of a three-fight winning streak for “The Diamond”.
In the fall of 2014, UFC 178 took place in Las Vegas, a card that saw Dustin Poirier booked to fight Conor McGregor on the pay-per-view main card. “The Notorious” proved to be one tough customer in the shop that Saturday night, with McGregor finishing Poirier off (punches) in under two minutes, though “The Diamond” would exact revenge with a first-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage) in 2021.
Undeterred, Poirier marched on with a four-fight winning streak, with three of those victories coming by way of knockout, including a first-round knockout over Bobby (now King) Green at UFC 199 in June of 2016.
Dustin Poirier Makes Successful Bid for Interim Gold
By 2019, Dustin Poirier’s career record stood at 24-5 with one no-contest. That no-contest came in May of 2017 when his fight vs. Eddie Alvarez was waved off by Herb Dean after the latter delivered illegal knee strikes to Poirier when he was a downed fighter.
Chapter two of the rivalry between “The Diamond” and “Blessed” would be written in Atlanta during the UFC 236 main event, which was the first pay-per-view headliner to be exclusively streamed via ESPN+ inside the United States of America. Again, Dustin Poirier emerged as the victor, this time by unanimous decision on the scorecards after five rounds of action for the Interim UFC Lightweight Championship.
A unification battle was set for UFC 242 against Khabib Nurmagomedov, with the latter retaining his permanent title in September of 2019. Nurmagomedov would retire undefeated in 2020.
Second, Third Bids at UFC Lightweight Championship Also Unsuccessful
Dustin Poirier would win his way back into UFC Lightweight Championship contention twice more, with both fights ending in defeat, most recently in 2024. Although Poirier never won the permanent belt, it matters not.
This is a man who will go into the annals of MMA history as one of the best fighters to ever put on the gloves, weight class notwithstanding. His place in the UFC Hall of Fame is a given at this point.