Max Holloway is looking to avoid a three-peat against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 this weekend.
UFC 318 goes down this Saturday, from New Orleans, Louisiana, all for the retirement fight of local legend and former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier.
Poirier’s final fight is a trilogy bout against longtime rival and current BMF titleholder Max Holloway.
Holloway has lost to Poirier twice, once by submission and the other by decision. Poirier spoiled Holloway’s UFC debut as well as his 13-fight win streak in 2019. Now, Holloway has the chance to take Poirier’s retirement fight in front of his home crowd.
How does Holloway pull it off after an 0-2 start against Poirier?
A former UFC champion has laid out Holloway’s keys to victory against Poirier, one of the best boxers in the UFC today.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesDominick Cruz says Max Holloway can neutralize Dustin Poirier with kicks at UFC 318
Two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz broke down Poirier vs. Holloway 3 on ESPN MMA.
Cruz said what makes Poirier really dangerous is his ability to pull his opponents into range and that’s where he finds success in the boxing department.
Holloway was bloodied by Poirier’s punches in their lightweight fight back in 2019.
Cruz thinks Holloway’s key to beating Poirier is his kicks.
“Max Holloway is going to make adjustments to this,” Cruz said of the BMF champion.
“The #1 adjustment is start with the hands, finish with the kicks because this man’s moving backwards.
“Holloway’s got nasty, very, very good kicks with a lot of dexterity.
“The way Max can beat the boxing of Poirier is by using his kicks and using his range. This teep kick slides in there like a jab.
“That’s one of the things we’ve seen from Max as well. He was countering Poirier’s head shots by going to the body. So, whenever Poirier would slide back, Max would go [to the body], and the adjustment comes [with a head kick].”
Poirier’s latest KO loss was via head kick to Justin Gaethje in 2023.
“I think we’re going to see some adjustments for Max with that slide-back hook, the pulling sequences, where he likes to pull you into the pocket and brawl, and he’s very accurate.
“I think we’re gonna see more kicks, more knees, more elbows, and a lot more trickiness out of Max Holloway this time,” Cruz said.
Max Holloway broke Justin Gaethje’s nose with spinning kick
Holloway racked up style points in his last appearance at lightweight.
Before he suffered the first knockout loss of his career to Ilia Topuria at UFC 309 last October, Holloway picked up the ‘KO of the century’—a buzzer-beater stoppage of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Holloway scored major damage en route to the knockout. In the closing seconds of round 1, Holloway timed a spinning back kick that connected beautifully on Gaethje’s face, sending him across the Octagon.
The kick broke Gaethje’s nose and the fight was largely one-way traffic after that.