Dustin Poirier questions the judges following UFC 318 defeat to Max Holloway

UFC legend Dustin Poirier has questioned the judges following his defeat to Max Holloway in his retirement fight.

Dustin Poirier has officially retired from mixed martial arts. He rode off into the sunset on Saturday night following his loss to Max Holloway, failing in his attempt to claim the BMF title. Alas, while he may have lost, he still won the hearts of MMA fans around the world – as you’d expect from someone like ‘The Diamond’.

RELATED: UFC 318 Results: Max Holloway defeats Dustin Poirier (Highlights)

It was a wonderful send-off for a wonderful man, and it was one hell of a fight for him to go out on. The judges scored the contest 49-46, 48-47 and 49-46 in favor of Holloway, with the majority of fans agreeing that ‘Blessed’ had done enough to get his hand raised.

In his post-fight press conference, however, Poirier felt as if the contest was closer than two of the judges had been led to believe.

Poirier’s view on judges in Holloway fight

“Obviously, I wanted to win,” Poirier said at the UFC 318 post-fight press conference. “Max is a great fighter, a tough competitor. I just being inside the eye of the storm, it felt a lot closer to me. I really thought it might have been 2-2 going into the fifth [round]. Mike Brown checked the scorecards when we got to the locker room and I think the judges gave me different rounds.

“I think all the judges gave him the second round. I thought I almost had him out. He hurt me, too, but I thought my shot when I followed up with elbows, I was cracking him. He told me in the medical tent, ‘Hey man, you had me out.’ We couldn’t hear the bell. Being in the fight, it felt a lot closer than that. When I heard the judges’ [scores], I was like no way. It was closer than that. Like the man says, it is what it is.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting