One of the mysteries of the UFC’s 2025 fight calendar has centered around Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight. Poirier has teased it multiple times online, and UFC President Dana White has confirmed that the organization is working on something special for the Lafayette, Louisiana, native’s final fight in the UFC.
Beneil Dariush, the No. 9-ranked lightweight in the promotion, was recently a guest on Submission Radio. Dariush may have spilled the beans on Poirier’s next fight while answering a question about his own future.
Dariush was asked if he would be the man to welcome former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway permanently to the lightweight division. Dariush said he prefers to fight someone ahead of him in the rankings as he aims to move toward fighting for the 155-pound title.
“The problem is right now, my understanding is that Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway are going to fight. At least that’s what I’m hearing. I don’t know if it’s 100 percent sealed and done, but that’s what I’m hearing.”
Poirier and Holloway would be meeting for the third time if this comes to pass. Poirier has beaten Holloway both times. They initially met at UFC 143 in February 2012, where Poirier won that fight at featherweight via triangle armbar.
The two future Hall of Famers met again in April 2019 at lightweight, with Poirier taking a unanimous decision victory at UFC 236 for the interim title. If the two men meet for a third time, it could be a battle for the BMF belt that Holloway took from Justin Gaethje with an epic knockout at UFC 300.
If Holloway were to win the third meeting, it would seemingly set him up for another rematch with Gaethje, who is coming off a thrilling unanimous decision win over Rafael Fiziev in the co-main event of UFC 313 on March 8.
All of this potential movement and matchmaking somewhat underscores what could be the biggest story in the division: the inevitable arrival of reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
After scoring knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Holloway, Topuria has decided to vacate the 145-pound title to move up to lightweight. He plans to challenge current 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev for the title. However, that fight has yet to be announced.
If things fall into place, the UFC’s lightweight division could be littered with marquee matchups in 2025 and early 2026.
Up Next – UFC Vegas 104
Saturday’s card isn’t a star-packed show. In the main event, Marvin Vettori returns to the Octagon to face Roman Dolidze. Here is a look at the entire card:
- Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze – Middleweight (185 lbs)
- Elizeu Zaleski vs. Chidi Njokuani – Welterweight (170 lbs)
- Kevin Vallejos vs. Seung Woo Choi – Featherweight (145 lbs)
- Alexander Hernandez vs. Kurt Holobaugh – Lightweight (155 lbs)
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Cody Gibson – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- Su Young You vs. AJ Cunningham – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ryan Spann – Heavyweight (265 lbs)
- Sam Hughes vs. Stephanie Luciano – Strawweight (115 lbs)
- Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Brendson Ribeiro – Light Heavyweight (205 lbs)
- Josias Musasa vs. Carlos Vera – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- André Lima vs. Daniel Barez – Flyweight (125 lbs)
- Josiane Nunes vs. Priscila Cachoeira – Bantamweight (135 lbs)
- Yuneisy Duben vs. Carli Judice – Flyweight (125 lbs)
I’ll have post-event coverage, including results and bonus winners.
