UFC 318’s Exciting Main Card Capped by Fond Farewell Saturday

UFC 318 Main Event: BMF Championship: [C] Max Holloway vs. No. 6 Contender Dustin Poirier III

At the top of the bill on Saturday night, your main event of the evening sees the symbolic BMF Championship at stake in a trilogy bout. Current BMF Champion Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) puts the title at risk when he battles No. 6 contender Dustin Poirier (30-9, 1 NC MMA, 22-8, 1 NC UFC.)

Outcome notwithstanding, Saturday’s main event will be the 41st and last appearance in Poirier’s career. This fight will be an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close the show.

Heading into this trilogy bout in the UFC 318 main event, the all-time series between Holloway and Poirier stands at 2-0 in favor of the latter. Chapter one of the tale finished with Dustin Poirier locking in a triangle armbar submission during the opening round, while the rematch saw Poirier score a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) on the scorecards.

How will this story end? Holloway comes into UFC 318 this upcoming weekend with a 3-2 record in his last five fights. Last October, he sustained a third-round knockout defeat to Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) by way of left hook and ground and pound shots.

He’s never beaten “The Diamond” and now he’s got one last chance to do so when the cage door slams shut in the UFC 318 main event on Saturday. Will he get his revenge?

Meanwhile, Dustin Poirier heads into his retirement bout with a mark of 2-3 in his last five appearances inside the fabled Octagon. 13 months ago, he tasted defeat (submission: D’arce choke) in the fifth round of his fight against Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) in UFC 302 for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Win or lose, this is it for Dustin Poirier. There’s no tomorrow here. Can he ride off into the sunset with one final win on his resume? Tune in and find out.

UFC 318 Co-Main Event: No. 13 Contender Paulo Costa vs. No. 14 Contender Roman Kopylov

Immediately prior to the headliner, the UFC 318 co-main event sees a crucial showcase happening in the middleweight ranks when No. 13 contender Paulo Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) clashes with No. 14 contender Roman Kopylov (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC.) This three-round contest at five minutes per round is a rescheduling of a postponed fight from UFC 317 on June 28.

Ahead of UFC 317, the promotion rebooked the fight to happen here. Costa will be making the walk having gone 1-4 in his last five contests. At the present time, he’s on a two-fight losing streak.

On June 1 of last year, he was on the wrong end of a split decision versus Sean Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) after five rounds of action in the UFC 302 co-main event of the evening. He’s entered must-win territory here.

If Costa doesn’t get his hand raised here, he could find himself unranked as soon as Monday morning. Across the way, Roman Kopylov has posted a 4-1 record in his last five fights.

Currently, he’s on a two-fight winning streak. Back on Jan. 11, in the first UFC show of the year, he finished Chris Curtis (32-12, 1 NC MMA, 6-4, 1 NC UFC) via head kick with only one second remaining on the third-round clock.

How will he fare here? Only time will tell.

UFC 318: No. 13 Contender Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez

Also on the UFC 318 main card, you’ll be seeing a welterweight contest matching No. 13 contender Kevin Holland (28-13, 1 NC MMA, 15-10, 1 NC UFC) with Daniel Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC.) Holland will touch down in Louisiana this Saturday having posted a 3-2 record in his last five contests.

He’s on a two-fight winning streak and faces a quick turnaround. Six weeks ago, Holland submitted Vicente Luque (23-11-1 MMA, 16-7 UFC) with an anaconda choke in the second round of their fight in UFC 316.

This netted him an advance of $50,000 (USD) for the Performance of the Night Award after the show. It’s only the middle of July, but UFC 318 is already his fourth appearance in the Octagon in 2025. Can he score his second straight win in as many months?

In the other corner, Daniel Rodriguez has gone 2-3 over the course of his past five bouts. He’s won two fights in succession, including a second-round knockout (left hook followed by ground strike) versus Santiago Ponzinibbio (30-9 MMA, 12-8 UFC) in Des Moines back in May. Another win here would give Rodriguez 20 for his career. Will he reach that significant milestone?

Final Thoughts

Which main card fight or fights are you looking forward to?