Dustin Poirier Reacts to Scorecards in UFC 318 Headliner

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

​

Dustin Poirier thought his trilogy fight with Max Holloway was a lot closer than the final scorecards indicated.

In what was Poirier’s farewell, “The Diamond” and Holloway traded blows for the better part of five rounds in the UFC 318 headliner at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. When all was said and done, Holloway emerged with a unanimous decision triumph to earn his first win in three tries against Poirier. Judge Derek Cleary saw it 48-47, while Eric Colon and Sal D’Amato scored it 49-46 — all in favor of the Hawaiian standout.



“Obviously, I wanted to win. Max is a great fighter, a tough competitor. I just being inside the eye of the storm, it felt a lot closer to me,” Poirier said at the UFC 318 post-fight press conference. “I really thought it might have been 2-2 going into the fifth [round]. Mike Brown checked the scorecards when we got to the locker room and I think the judges gave me different rounds.

“I think all the judges gave him the second round. I thought I almost had him out. He hurt me, too, but I thought my shot when I followed up with elbows, I was cracking him. He told me in the medical tent, ‘Hey man, you had me out.’ We couldn’t hear the bell. Being in the fight, it felt a lot closer than that. When I heard the judges’ [scores], I was like no way. It was closer than that. Like the man says, it is what it is.”

All 21 media scorecards tracked by MMADecisions.com awarded the fight to Holloway, with tallies ranging from 50-45 to 48-47. Meanwhile, Holloway outlanded Poirier by a 198-to-109 count in significant strikes. “Blessed” outlanded his foe in every stanza, including Round 2, when Poirier scored a knockdown late in the period.

Poirier: I Thought It Was Close​

“Going into the fifth, I thought it was close,” Poirier said. “I thought it might have been 2-2, so winning the fifth, I could have put myself into harm’s way a little bit more. Maybe I would have got finished. Maybe I would have finished him. I could have took more chances in the fifth but up to that point, I was playing [smart]. I was trying to fight like a professional. Be smart.

“It seemed like he was waiting to counter me with his right hand every time I would come in, but the crazy thing is he never threw it but it felt like his footwork and his movement was ready to throw that right hand. So I didn’t want to take too many risks getting countered. I didn’t want to miss and get countered. He had already hurt me in the second round. I fought and I thought I was doing well. I thought it was close rounds every time. Looking back, hindsight’s always 20/20, but I thought I fought smart and I tried to win. I really did.”

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Dustin Poirier Reacts to Scorecards in UFC 318 Headliner

Dustin Poirier thought his trilogy fight with Max Holloway was a lot closer than the final scorecards indicated.

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[Neck&Neck]

It wasn’t that close
He didn’t fight a smart fight
Standing around at range too much is a death sentence against a volume striker like Max

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Inability to pull the trigger is what eventually happens to all fighters, from GOATS on down. Add that with Max being the faster guy at 55, having now caused both Justin and Dustin to freeze up and second guess letting their hands go.
That said, I'm sure it did feel closer than that while he was in there

 

[RockyLockridge]

 

[Fact Checker]

Clear win for Holloway but Poirier has lost a step and his fan friendly gameplan didn’t do him any favors. He just senselessly played Max backpedaling game by plodding into counters and oblique kicks instead of using that momentum to pin him on the fence.


Good fight though, both guys should be happy with their performance

 

[GoWokeGoBroke]

I thought his ol’ lady was the double D. Still hespect the shit out out of delusional Dustin tho!

 

[CrimsonFan]

Inability to pull the trigger is what eventually happens to all fighters, from GOATS on down. Add that with Max being the faster guy at 55, having now caused both Justin and Dustin to freeze up and second guess letting their hands go.
That said, I'm sure it did feel closer than that while he was in there

To be fair he got cracked good in the first 2 rounds that will make you hesitant.

And by round 3 cardio and pacing yourself come into play for a 5 round fight. I think Dustin looked pretty solid all things considered. Just lost the early rounds and its hard to come back from that.

 

[Poirierfan]

I do not want to see Dustin doing any type of fighting ever again. it was the perfect sendoff imo.

I'll be rooting for Max no matter who he fights in the future.

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

One judge had it 2-2, Dana sounded like he had it 2-2 it's not far off from what he and his corner thought. At the end of the night he went out and convincingly lost r5.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

To be fair he got cracked good in the first 2 rounds that will make you hesitant.

And by round 3 cardio and pacing yourself come into play for a 5 round fight. I think Dustin looked pretty solid all things considered. Just lost the early rounds and its hard to come back from that.

Absolutely, he had a few things not go his way early and still kept Max honest til the final horn.

Agree with @Poirierfan that was an ideal send off, the W would have been the icing on the cake sure but all things considered, he's leaving at the right time

 

[MRT]

A fight being competitive and entertaining is often not reflected in the scorecards. Dustin should not worry about it.

Everyone loved that fight and it was a fine way to go out for Dustin. Even the clinch at the end wasn't a big deal because getting face planted like Justin would have utterly destroyed the moment...potentially no post-fight interview, no video sendoff, no long walk back engaging with the fans and fellow fighters, etc.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

There were a few rounds people shouldn't have scored for him, but that he certainly had his points in and could have stolen with a bit more. The action can still be close even if the scores weren't.

This is why I keep trying to remind people that there are closer 50-45's than there are 48-47's.

 

[Dionysian]

I had is 48-47 Max and don't remember the breakdown but I do remember giving Dustin the 2nd. One of those "guy A won it for 3.5 minutes and guy B won it for 1.5 minutes but his time was at the end so judges gave it to guy B" stories. Dustin was closest he got to a finish during that round and won it pretty clearly until Max nailed him near the end, so yeah I gave it to DP.

 

[JoeRowe]

To be fair he got cracked good in the first 2 rounds that will make you hesitant.

And by round 3 cardio and pacing yourself come into play for a 5 round fight. I think Dustin looked pretty solid all things considered. Just lost the early rounds and its hard to come back from that.

All that body work(40+ straight rights & round kicks) definitely sapped some of that energy.

 

[wrb]

Max won the fight, but I think DP hurts people and was tagging Max, just as he was also tagging Islam. His movement isn't very good these days, and it's also possible he was still recovering from the crazy beatdown he mentioned on Twitter. (Islam really hurt him, and some of the injuries he listed could probably last a lifetime.) If anything, Max needs to learn from that fight and work on exiting at angles, as his corner had to remind him during the fight. He listened, and it saved him from some of the brutal-sounding counterpunches from DP that were easy to miss in the moment. Max is good at 155, but he needs to do even better and keep working on his defense. In my opinion, he's even faster now than he was at 145. It's bizarre.

 

[ShadowRun]

I thought it was clearly 3/2 maybe 4/1 max

 

[joy2day]

They got the winner right anyway, which is more than I can say for certain other decisions. Max just out landed him by too much to reasonably give Dustin the decision. The fight stats are pretty clear.

 

[joy2day]

I do not want to see Dustin doing any type of fighting ever again. it was the perfect sendoff imo.

I'll be rooting for Max no matter who he fights in the future.

Maybe you should ditch that account and start a new one called Maxfan?

 

[nostradumbass]

I'd have to rewatch to see exactly which rounds was what, but it looked like Max was too fast for him and landed a bazillion strikes with Doostin just having some moments here and there and landing some decent shots in between getting tagged a bunch.

 

[Poirierfan]

Maybe you should ditch that account and start a new one called Maxfan?

MaxfangeneralHQ.