ESPN staffJul 18, 2025, 08:20 AM ET
Dustin Poirier will make his final walk to the UFC Octagon in his home state of Louisiana to face his longtime rival Max Holloway for the BMF title on Saturday in the main event of UFC 318 (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV; prelims at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN+). "The Diamond" will be making his 41st professional fight and 31st win. Both Poirier and Holloway have 22 UFC wins. With a 23rd, one fighter will join Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Charles Oliveira and Andrei Arlovski at No. 2 on the career wins list.
Poirier and Holloway have fought twice before, and Poirier saw his hand raised on both occasions. In their first fight in 2012, Poirier welcomed the then-20-year-old Holloway to the UFC with a first-round triangle armbar. It still the only time Holloway has been submitted in his career. Seven years later, they met for the interim lightweight belt, and Poirier ended Holloway's 13-fight win streak by unanimous decision.
This time around, Holloway will be making his first defense of the BMF belt he defeated Justin Gaethje for last April. Holloway is the most active striker in UFC history, with a UFC record 3,457 significant strikes in 30 fights. He's landed over 100 significant strikes per fight in a record 16 UFC bouts.
Also on the main card, middleweights Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov, who both finish opponents at a 86% clip, meet on opposite ends of the momentum spectrum. Costa has lost four of his past five fights, including the current two-loss streak, while Kopylov has won his last two and five of his past seven fights.
In all, New Orleans will stage 14 UFC fights between the prelim and main cards. Follow along with Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim as they relay all sights and sounds from the Smoothie King Center and provide analysis and results.
