Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier, one of UFC’s most respected veterans, will commemorate the end of his MMA career at UFC 318 with a grand gesture. In a highly anticipated retirement bout, Poirier (30-9, 1 NC) will face UFC BMF champion Max Holloway (26-8) in the main event at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday and will be accompanied to the Octagon by rap legend Lil Wayne.
Poirier, a Louisiana native, began his UFC journey walking out to Lil Wayne’s “Drop the World” back in 2011. Although he has more recently used James Brown’s “The Boss” as his walkout anthem, Poirier confirmed during Media Day on Wednesday that this final walk will combine both tracks.
“It will be a little bit of James Brown, a little bit of Wayne,” Poirier said. “Yeah, Wayne’s walking out with me. I have to (stick with the James Brown song). I’ve paid the cost to be the boss. On my last one, I can’t go that far away from it. I need to hear that. I need to feel that vibe before I fight someone.”
The inclusion of Lil Wayne, a lifelong UFC fan and fellow New Orleans icon, fulfills a promise Poirier hinted at during an April episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. At the time, he said:
“If Lil Wayne wants to walk me out in New Orleans, I’ll walk out to Lil Wayne in my last fight and switch it up from James Brown. If he does ‘Drop the World,’ I’ll come out to it.”
Wayne has frequently shown support for Poirier on social media during fight nights.
This fight will be the fourth meeting between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway. Their first clash was at UFC 143 in 2012, where Poirier handed Holloway his first professional loss. The rematch took place at UFC 236 in April 2019, with Poirier capturing the interim UFC lightweight title and snapping Holloway’s 13-fight win streak. At UFC 318, they meet again for the coveted BMF title, which Holloway earned after knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 200. Poirier previously fought for the BMF belt at UFC 291, where he lost to Gaethje.
This fight comes shortly after both fighters experienced recent losses. Poirier last fought at UFC 302 in June 2024, where he was defeated by Islam Makhachev, the reigning UFC lightweight champion. Holloway’s last bout was a loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in October 2023.
While UFC President Dana White typically avoids live music performances during fighter walkouts, he has allowed celebrity companions in the past. Examples include Jack Black and Kyle Gass walking with Stephen Thompson at UFC 296, and Mark Zuckerberg walking out with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. It remains unclear if Lil Wayne will perform live, but his presence alone is expected to energize the crowd.
UFC 318, available on ESPN+ Pay-Per-View, also features fights including Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov, Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez, Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, and Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber.
