Max Holloway Having Bigger Punching Power for Conor McGregor Rematch Possible, Says Dustin Poirier

The 2026 International Fight Week card will feature Conor McGregor‘s MMA comeback against Max Holloway. There is perhaps no one on Earth who is better equipped than Dustin Poirier to discuss the upcoming UFC 329 main event. Following the announcement of this fight, the ‘Diamond’ has given his thoughts on this highly anticipated rematch.

Dustin Poirier has been involved in trilogies with both of the UFC 329 main eventers. He is 2-1 against both men across the lightweight and featherweight divisions. Poirier’s last fight was against Holloway at UFC 318, whereas McGregor’s last fight was against the Diamond at UFC 264.

Based on this vast experience and expertise, the former interim champion has predicted that Max Holloway will carry more punching power heading into this fight. The Lafayette-born lightweight revealed that he felt ‘Blessed’s’ increased punching power during their showdown at UFC 318 last May.

The last time I fought him, punching power, for sure. He was sitting down on his punches more, and I could feel the power. In the second fight, it was more the output Max, volume, but not a whole lot of knockdown power. Max for sure is a volume puncher, but at 55, when I fought him last, he had power behind his shots.

Dustin Poirier via the Deep Waters podcast

Max Holloway has definitely shown that his punches at lightweight now pack more of a wallop than when he had temporarily moved up in weight from 145lbs. No fight is a better example of this than Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight. The Hawaiian’s punches seemed to have much more of an impact on his opponent compared to when the two fought in 2019.

Moreover, despite never being known as a knockout artist, the former featherweight secured a sensational knockout over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Based on all this, the retired lightweight revealed on the Deep Waters podcast that he expects his former opponent to be even more of a threat at welterweight.

And I got to think at 170, he’s going to have even more power. Because Max can punch now, man. He’s not just a volume puncher. He can finish fights.

Dustin Poirier via the Deep Waters podcast

👀🥊Dustin Poirier Max Holloway going to have a big punching power when fighting Conor McGregor at welterweight:

“At 155 when I fought him last, he had power behind his shots. I gotta think in 170 hens gonna have even more power.

Max can punch now, he’s not just volume puncher… pic.twitter.com/uiEaEv5SMM

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 19, 2026

All in all, the Louisiana native admitted to favoring the man who retired him in this upcoming matchup against Conor McGregor. Even so, he expressed concern over the Hawaiian former champion’s durability heading into UFC 329.

Dustin Poirier questions Max Holloway’s chin following recent performances

Max Holloway has always been among the more active fighters in the UFC. The former featherweight fought as recently as March this year at UFC 326 in a widely panned, unsuccessful defense of his BMF title. However, his former opponent believes this activity may be the 34-year-old’s undoing against Conor McGregor.

The former BMF title holder did not suffer a lot of damage despite losing to Charles Oliveira in a lopsided BMF title fight. Even so, Dustin Poirier does not like what he has seen from ‘Blessed’ in his recent fights. The Diamond even brought up his knocking down Max Holloway in their UFC 318 fight as an example to question his former opponent’s durability.

The thing that I keep thinking about is, in Max’s last three fights, he’s touched the canvas more times than he’s touched his whole career. [Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria] dropped him, I dropped him. That’s his last few fights. If Max’s chin is finally catching up to the style of fighting he does, Conor [McGregor] could put him down.

Dustin Poirier via the Deep Waters podcast

While Justin Gaethje was not officially credited with a knockdown, even ‘Blessed’ himself later admitted to being dropped by him. It is also true that Blessed was knocked down by the Diamond while getting knocked out by Ilia Topuria. However, is Dustin Poirier’s assessment of the former featherweight champion’s waning durability accurate?

Every instance of Max Holloway being dropped that the former interim champion brought up occurred while the Hawaiian was hit with a shot he was unable to roll with. A significant portion of the former featherweight champion’s striking defense relies on rolling with incoming punches, thus taking the sting off them. However, he was unable to do so in the instances brought up by the former interim champion.

‘Blessed’ ate these shots head-on and suffered the ensuing consequences. However, he also took some heavy punches from Charles Oliveira in a few instances of their one-sided BMF title fight. But Holloway’s durability, coupled with his rolling with the punches, meant he was not knocked down in that fight despite Oliveira seemingly landing flush a couple of times.

Even so, Dustin Poirier isn’t the first former opponent to express their concern over Max Holloway’s chin. Alexander Volkanovski echoed the Diamond’s concerns ahead of UFC 326. Nonetheless, the added 15lbs should improve the Hawaiian’s durability even compared to his chin 155lbs. However, he will still require caution against an elite counter-striker like Conor McGregor, even if he is coming off a 5-year layoff.

Also Read:

• Jon Jones Plots Shocking UFC Exit-“I Would Really Surprise a Lot of People”
• Dana White Reveals One Regret in Matchmaking for UFC Freedom 250 After Snubbing America vs The World Theme