Dustin Poirier officially retired from mixed martial arts following his unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318 this past weekend in his home state.
The fan favourite and one-time interim UFC lightweight champion had announced in the lead-up to his trilogy match with Holloway that it would be his final fight.
Poirier, 36, was a 32-fight UFC veteran with 41 total professional MMA bouts on his record.
The Lafayette, La., native decided to post a “letter to the game” along with a series of photos from his final fight on social media several days after his farewell bout to thank the sport.
It read as follows:
“Thank you for allowing a kid to chase a dream. Thank you for the lessons. Thank you for the heartbreak. Thank you for a platform to raise others up. When I started I wanted to find out how good of a fighter I can be, and I found out.
“Fighting is life, Fighting is the truth.
“I'm forever grateful to have walked this path and the lessons I've learned will be with me until my heart stops. I'm not sure what's next but I'll do what you taught me, continue to walk confidently into the unknown.
“Sincerely El Diamante.”
Poirier took his first amateur fight in 2007 at age 18. After going 7-0 as an amateur he turned pro in 2009, working his way through the regional scene in Louisiana and into the WEC before debuting in the UFC in 2011.
Although he went 0-3 in undisputed title fights (losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev) and lost his most recent fight with Holloway, Poirier had two previous wins over Holloway and two wins over Conor McGregor, plus memorable victories over Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, Dan Hooker, Jim Miller and Michael Chandler among others.
10:51
