7/20/25: Dustin Poirier Retires From MMA Following Loss To Max Holloway
Also: A comeback of the year contender at PFL Africa
Welcome to a Sunday edition of the Knockdown Daily! Between coverage of UFC 318 and PFL’s first-ever event in Africa, we have tons to cover today. Let’s begin!
Dustin Poirier Retires Following Loss In Trilogy Fight Against Max Holloway At UFC 318
Dustin Poirier, a fan favorite who remained one of the lightweight division’s top contenders for the better part of a decade, officially stepped away from MMA after a loss to career-long rival Max Holloway on Saturday night.
Poirier gave fans one last memorable performance before stepping away from the sport, getting into a back-and-forth five-round brawl against Holloway, which he lost via unanimous decision in the end (48-47, 49-46 & 49-46).
The fight headlined UFC 318, which took place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, Poirier’s home state.
Holloway had a hot start to the fight, dropping Poirier just a couple of minutes into the bout with a clean right cross. The former featherweight champ had a slick follow-up to the shot, clipping the “Diamond” while he was working back up to his feet, putting him back to the mat with a hard left hook.
A strong start in the fight for Holloway only continued through to the second, where a right hand wobbled Poirier, causing him to shoot for a takedown while trying to recover. Holloway found himself on top after a brief scramble, giving him the chance to keep landing ground and pound shots.
Holloway let Poirier back up to his feet later in the round, leading to a sequence which swung momentum in the other direction.
Despite getting stunned significantly just minutes prior, Poirier showed that he was still in the fight by flooring Holloway with a right hook during the second half of round two. Poirier pulled guard with a guillotine choke attempt after Holloway got back to his feet, something he has notoriously attempted throughout his career.
While unsuccessful with the choke, Poirier was able to end the round in top control, landing ground and pound shots. The late moments allowed Poirier to make the case for potentially stealing the round from Holloway, something he did on one of three official scorecards.
Poirier spent the next three rounds marching down Holloway with strikes, coming forward with punches. But Holloway, who was warned by his coaches not to be forced backward by Poirier, found success on the back foot. He was able to explode forward with his own punches at times, scoring with thudding blows which would often overshadow the moments that Poirier found.
Holloway continued to land to the head with clean punches while also having the more diverse output, frequently targeting the body and legs as well.
After 25 minutes of battle, it was a strong start paired with championship round success from Holloway which earned him a win, keeping him the UFC’s “Baddest Mother F*****” champion, a vanity belt used for fan favorite super-fights over the years.
The fight was an impressive win for Holloway, who was appearing at lightweight for the first time since dropping the UFC Featherweight Championship to Ilia Topuria in October. But, the focus was all on Poirier afterward, as the entire fight week had been made to honor his retirement from the sport.
“It’s been overwhelming, honestly,” Poirier said about the fight week after competing on Saturday. “I feel appreciated, I feel seen … I feel loved by the fans, Louisiana, and the company. It’s been incredible. I didn’t know I touched as many people as I did by chasing my dreams.”
An 18-year-old Poirier made his amateur MMA debut back in 2007, beginning a career in the sport which would last nearly 20 years in total. A high school dropout who frequently found himself in trouble for getting into fights, Poirier said that competing in MMA helped him focus his life.
“I definitely think fighting has opened the path to redemption for me,” Poirier said in the 2011 documentary Fightville. “I’ve been in boot camps, in juvenile detentions, and all this stuff that’s supposed to help me, and that didn’t help me. But when I found something that I wanted and I was really going to chase, [that helped me].”
After obtaining an undefeated pro record of seven finish wins on the regional scene, Poirier joined the WEC roster in 2010, then started fighting in the UFC a year later.
One of Poirier’s early fights came against an 18-year-old Max Holloway, who only had four pro bouts to his name by the time they met at UFC 143. Poirier prevailed in that bout via first-round submission.
Poirier would face the who's who of 2010s greats between featherweight and lightweight over the next few years: Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, The Korean Zombie, Justin Gaethje, Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira, and many others. Win or loss, the throughline in most performances was that Poirier made it a memorable fight.
While Poirier became a lightweight interim champ once, defeating Holloway in a five-round meeting back in 2019, an undisputed title reign never came his way as a pro. He lost a title shot to Nurmagomedov in 2019, then Oliveira in 2021, and most recently Makhachev last year.
But what Poirier lacked in title success he made up for by being a beloved character in the UFC who consistently put on big performances. With 15 Performance/Fight of the Night bonuses (fourth most out of all UFC fighters), and 15 finishes (fifth most out of all UFC fighters), Poirier was a walking highlight reel during his 32-fight run in the promotion.
“The Diamond” was shown a video package on Saturday night featuring messages from other prominent UFC fighters, honoring the legacy he is leaving behind in the sport.
“I’m forever in debt to the fans, the company,” Poirier said afterward. “Mixed martial arts has taught me everything I know. I’m just thankful I got to walk this walk.”
Here are a few other headlines from UFC 318:
In arguably his best performance in years, former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa (15-4) outworked Roman Kopylov (14-4) on the feet for a unanimous decision win. Costa landed at a higher clip than Kopylov throughout the fight, earning a pair of knockdowns along the way with his boxing. Costa won just one of his prior five fights, struggling to succeed against any of the division’s big names. Kopylov is a respectable name for him to beat, as the Russian had won in six of his last seven fights since 2022, including a finish against veteran Chris Curtis earlier this year.
Daniel Rodriguez (20-5) should expect to have a number next to his name next week, as he overcame 13th-ranked welterweight Kevin Holland (28-14) via decision on Saturday’s main card. While Holland had no match for Rodriguez’s boxing in rounds one and two, he put “D-Rod” in trouble late, knocking him down with a shot of his own during the third. In the end it was Rodriguez who won, marking his third consecutive victory since just last October.
Bellator legend Patricio Pitbull (37-8) earned his first UFC victory, getting the nod against Dan Ige (19-10) in a low-output three-round fight which saw the Brazilian fighter mix together striking with brief moments of control on the ground. While the performance didn’t impress the fans in New Orleans, it put Pitbull on the board after dropping his promotional debut to Yair Rodriguez in April. Beating 11th-ranked Ige, Pitbull should be among the top 15 at featherweight in a few days.
23-year-old Ateba Gautier (8-1) put together yet another impressive win on the prelims, putting away Robert Valentin (10-6) in just 70 seconds with strikes. A long series of punches from Gautier—including a left hand which rocked Valentin, and a clean knee up the middle—put away the Swiss talent in short time. Gautier, the youngest middleweight on the UFC roster, made a splash in his debut earlier this year, beating Jose Medina in the first round.
Along with Gautier, performances bonuses also went to Carli Judice (5-2) for a second-round knee finish over Nicolle Caliari (8-4), and Islam Dulatov (12-1) for a first-round left hook stoppage against Adam Fugitt (10-5).
A middleweight bout which saw Brendan Allen (25-7) overcome Marvin Vettori (19-8-1) was given “Fight of the Night.” Allen and Vettori, who had bad blood after previously getting into a scuffle on a casino floor, had an all-out brawl on the feet for three rounds.
Here are the quick results for the card:
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 9:00PM CDT) (PPV)
Bout 14: Max Holloway def. Dustin Poirier via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 13: Paulo Costa def. Roman Kopylov via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Daniel Rodriguez def. Kevin Holland via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Patricio Pitbull def. Dan Ige via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Michael Johnson def. Daniel Zellhuber via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EDT / 7:00PM CDT) (ESPN / ESPN+)
Bout 9: Vinicius Oliveira def. Kyler Phillips via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Brendan Allen def. Marvin Vettori via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Nikolay Veretennikov def. Francisco Prado via Decision, Split
Bout 6: Ateba Gautier def. Robert Valentin via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:10)
Early Prelims
Bout 5: Islam Dulatov def. Adam Fugitt via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:06)
Bout 4: Jimmy Crute def. Marcin Prachnio via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 4:32)
Bout 3: Ryan Spann def. Lukasz Brzeski via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:37)
Bout 2: Brunno Ferreira def. Jackson McVey via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 3:35)
Bout 1: Carli Judice def. Niclle Caliari via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 1:30)
Costello van Steenis Breaks Johnny Eblen’s Undefeated Record In Comeback of the Year Contender
Just nine seconds away from a decision that would’ve guaranteed him a loss, Costello van Steenis changed his fate with a clutch submission finish on Saturday night.
In one of the most impressive comeback performances of the year thus far, van Steenis erased the lead of Johnny Eblen with a last-minute rear naked choke, ending the American’s undefeated record and making him the new PFL Middleweight Champion.
Van Steenis’ submission win, one of the more underrated moments of the weekend, headlined the first-ever PFL Africa card, which took place at the GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday night.
After 24 minutes of action, it seemed as though van Steenis’ fate was sealed, set to become the fifth person to fall to Eblen in a five-round title fight. Eblen jumped ahead by a three-round lead on a pair of official scorecards, using his extensive wrestling background to control van Steenis for a large portion of the bout.
And while van Steenis started to turn the tide in the fourth against a fading Eblen by scoring with strikes on the feet, and continued to have moments in the fifth, the champ’s lead meant that he needed a finish to win the bout.
Eblen put van Steenis on the mat in the final minute of the fight, getting on the Dutch talent’s back. But van Steenis rolled his way out of the position, and in a scramble, found the back of Eblen. It was from this position that he put a rear naked choke under the chin of Eblen, keeping hold of the submission until the American Top Team fighter went unconscious, ending the fight with only moments to spare.
Even before Eblen obtained a three-round lead, many didn’t expect that a title would change hands this weekend. Van Steenis entered as a +400 underdog, quite wide odds. Not only overcoming those odds but doing so in such a dramatic fashion makes van Steenis’ win arguably one of the more memorable PFL performances of the year thus far.
Eblen carried a lengthy undefeated record into this weekend, including a run with the Bellator Middleweight Championship which saw him beat Gegard Mousasi, Fabian Edwards, and Anatoly Tokov. Eblen entered this weekend viewed as one of the top non-UFC middleweights in the world, with algorithm-based fighter ranking site FightMatrix placing him sixth in the class.
Despite fighting in Bellator since 2017, Saturday was the first major MMA title appearance that van Steenis has been given in his career. While he has put together impressive win streaks before, pivotal losses in the past have kept him out of title shots.
A matchup against Eblen emerged after van Steenis scored back-to-back finishes last year, including a 48-second head kick win.
Abraham Bably Earns Knockout Win In Quarter-Finals of First-Ever PFL Africa Heavyweight Tournament
Along with the middleweight title fight, Saturday’s PFL card featured the start of the company’s first-ever Africa tournaments. Much like their tours in Europe and MENA, PFL will host year-long single-elimination brackets as part of their events in Africa, with winners in each division getting a grand prize of $100,000.
Eight-man tournaments at heavyweight and bantamweight started on Saturday, kicking off brackets which are expected to conclude by December of this year alongside featherweight and welterweight tournaments, which will begin next month. The heavyweight quarter-finals saw wins from Maxwell Djantou Nana, Justin Clarke, Joffie Houlton, and Abraham Bably.
Here’s a recap of it all:
Abraham Bably scored a buzzer-beating win against short-notice opponent Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze, catching him with a thudding right hook in the final second of the opening round for a knockout win. This year’s PFL Africa tournament gives Bably a second chance to earn gold after getting bounced out of the “World Tournament” by Rodrigo Nascimento in May.
Maxwell Djantou Nana landed the better shots in a somewhat slow-paced three-round fight against Mickael Groguhe, earning him a decision win. The former ONE Championship fighter, who hasn’t lost since dropping his pro debut in 2022, hadn’t previously gone the distance or even fought into the third round prior to Saturday.
In a surprising result, Jashell Ticha Awa retired on the stool after one round against Justin Clarke. Many suspected that Awa bowed out of the fight due to damage he suffered on his nose after a five-minute stand-up battle. Clarke was shocked by the sudden end to the fight, but later elated once realizing that it meant he was going to walk away with his third pro win.
A sequence full of fouls led to Joffie Houlton advancing past the quarter-finals against Abdoullah Kane due to disqualification. After an eye poke from Kane brought Houlton to the mat, the undefeated prospect blasted him with an illegal knee to the head — a series of events which left Houlton unable to compete afterward. Kane was seen as a significant favorite in the fight, heading into this weekend following a series of impressive regional wins. Instead, due to not one but two unforced errors, he’s no longer undefeated.
Nkosi Ndebele Makes Quick Work of Mahmoud Atef In Bantamweight Quarters
On the bantamweight side of things, it was Nkosi Ndebele, Boule Godogo, Karim Henniene, and Simbarashe Hokonya who walked away from Saturday’s show with a ticket to the semi-finals. Here’s what happened:
Nkosi Ndebele, the biggest favorite in the bantamweight quarter-finals, lived up to his steep odds with a first-round finish win over Mahmoud Atef, stopping him late in the first round with ground and pound strikes. The South African talent is hunting PFL gold this year after previously having a title reign in Brave CF, notably winning a trilogy against former UFC fighter Jose Torres along the way.
Boule Godogo walked away with a split decision win after a tough three-round performance against Shannon van Tonder, easily one of the more competitive bouts of the night. While Godogo did a fair amount of work with his striking on the feet and with control in top positions, he had to fend off numerous close submission attempts from van Tonder in the second round to stay in the bout. Godogo now has four wins since turning pro in 2021.
After a three-round performance which heavily leaned on ground control, Tristar Gym talent Karim Henniene walked away with a split decision victory over Asiashu Tshitamba. Henniene, who was fighting outside of the Canadian regional scene for the first time, now has an undefeated record of five wins.
The bantamweight bracket opened with an upset result, as undefeated Zimbabwe-based fighter Simbarashe Hokonya out-wrestled Bellator vet Frans Mlambo for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision win. Six-fight undefeated prospect Hokonya was seen as a massive underdog against Mlambo, a 2023 PFL Europe finalist. While Hokonya would’ve won on scorecards due to his success alone, a punch to the back of his head from Mlambo caused a point deduction and left the score even more wide by the end (one judge saw the fight 30-25).
Saturday’s card also featured a shutout performance from 2024 PFL Flyweight Champion Dakota Ditcheva against Sumiko Inaba, as well as a second-round finish win for ex-Bellator champ Corey Anderson against past PFL heavyweight season winner Denis Goltsov.
Here’s a quick look at Saturday’s full results:
Main Card
Bout 14: Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Eblen via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 5, 4:51) (PFL Middleweight Championship)
Bout 13: Dakota Ditcheva def. Sumiko Inaba via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: AJ McKee Jr. def. Akhmed Magomedov via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Makkasharipv Zaynukov def. Takeshi Izumi via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Corey Anderson def. Denis Goltsov via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 3:28)
Preliminary Card
Bout 9: Nkosi Ndebele def. Mahmoud Atef via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:51) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 8: Maxwell Djantou Nana def. Mickael Groguhe via Decision, Unanimous (Heavyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 7: Boule Godogo def. Shannon van Tonder via Decision, Split (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 6: Justin Clarke def. Jashell Ticha Awa via TKO, Retirement (RD 1, 5:00) (Heavyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 5: Karim Henniene def. Asiashu Tshitamba via Decision, Split (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 4: Joffie Houlton def. Abdoullah Kane via Disqualification, Fouls (RD 1, 0:40) (Heavyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 3: Simbarashe Hokonya def. Frans Mlambo via Decision, Unanimous (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 2: Abraham Bably def. Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:59) (Heavyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 1: Juliet Ukah def. Ceileigh Niedermayr via Decision, Unanimous