Dustin Poirier puts hat out for Lil Wayne walkout at final UFC fight in Louisiana

For his UFC 318 PPV retirement fight vs. one Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier wants a Lil Wayne theme walkout to his usual song.

Dustin Poirier puts hat out for Lil Wayne walkout at final UFC fight in Louisiana

Dustin Poirier wants Lil Wayne for his UFC retirement fight (Source: IMAGO/X)

The combat sports world almost saw Dustin Poirier retire last June, after a hard-fought UFC 302 PPV main event loss. ‘Diamond’ left New Jersey with hearts and minds rallying up to yet another failed title bid. Now that he’s prepping for an all-new, all-different swan song, he has plans for UFC 318 vs. Max Holloway. Those plans have Lil Wayne in tow.

At UFC 302, Dustin Poirier walked to a requested hybrid of Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ and the infamous pop late Willie Spence and ‘The Boss’ by James Brown. The latter is kind of synonymous with his walkouts in recent years.

At the time, the consensus was that this was part of his bow-out plans. Now that Poirier is doing it one last time for UFC 318 PPV in his home state of Louisiana at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, he wants Louisiana native Lil Wayne for it:

My first fight in the UFC, when I fought Josh Grispi, I walked out to Lil Wayne, …If Lil Wayne was to walk me out in New Orleans, I’ll walk out to Lil Wayne in my last flight — Switch-up to James Brown…I walked out in my debut against Josh Grispi [to] ‘Drop The World,’ …So, if he does ‘Drop The World’, I’ll come out to him in my last fight.

Dustin Poirier on “The Ariel Helwani Show” for ‘Uncrowned’ Combat

With his last bout now having the “Baddest of All” implications and the BMF hardware at 155 pounds, he wants a good drop for his last walk. With 13 studio albums and over 100 million records globally, New Orleans native Lil Wayne is the state’s infamous rapper. Once a guest on the singer’s podcast, Wayne is yet to dap up with the fighter of this request.

Poirier has wanted a clean, legacy bow-out retirement before the sport retires him. But, he has not been afraid to go to blows for it with had-chin Max Holloway. To that end, a special song from a native rapper is not all that he had in mind. He had a unique format in mind for his exit bout.

Dustin Poirier planned a BMF grandiose feat. UFC’s four stars for UFC sendoff at UFC 318

Max Holloway’s UFC 300 PPV knockout win that bagged him the BMF belt at 155-pound return amped the stakes for that gimmicky hardware. Ever since, it’s been a thing of its own with many vying for it. Even old owners came knocking for a BMF challenge. UFC 318 challenger Dustin Poirier wasn’t far behind on that list.

Dustin Poirier had unique plans ahead of UFC 318 vs. Max Holloway
Dustin Poirier had unique plans ahead of UFC 318 vs. Max Holloway (Source: X/AGFIGHT/selecaoppge.unb.br)

Prior to securing the fight with Holloway, Diamond was all about bagging a bowout in his home state. He meant to make it grand; hence. Poirier had a meeting with UFC CEO and headman Dana White. While meeting in Las Vegas, one part of his retirement booking was easily brushed aside.

I was telling [Dana] to do a BMF tournament, and I pitched me, [Justin] Gaethje, Max [Holloway] and [Dan] Hooker, …Me and Dana sat down in his office and talked about it, but he thought I was talking about a [few months style] tournament, but I was talking about a one-night tournament! And [he] told me nobody would sanction that. I’d totally be down to do a 10-minute first round if they wouldn’t allow one night, five rounds each fight. Or a one-night tournament, three rounds each fight.

Dustin Poirier further said

Since UFC 17 in 1998, before White and Zuffa LLC purchased promotional rights, the UFC has not held a tournament-style event. The call for tourneys has grown amid the convoluted bantamweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions.

To cite, multiple lightweight stars have top seed promise and/or chances, and one even sits at the UFC athletes listing despite a pullout. Unluckily for Poirier, this did not come to be, even for a BMF challenge.

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