The first face off between Holloway and Poirier ahead of #UFC318
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 15, 2025
(via @ufc) pic.twitter.com/ADbW7jL30e
Ex-featherweight champion Max Holloway will put his “BMF” belt on the line against former interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier in “The Diamond’s” final Octagon appearance atop the UFC 318 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat., July 19, 2025 inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Holloway and Poirier came face-to-to face last night in “The Big Easy” to help promote this weekend’s
trilogy. “Blessed” appears to have a significant size advantage heading into their five-round headliner; however, it did little to help the Hawaiian in his first two fights against Poirier, losing by submission at UFC 143 and then by unanimous decision at UFC 236.
“Max Holloway is going to make adjustments,” former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz said in his breakdown for ESPN. “The No. 1 adjustment is start with the hands, finish with the kicks because this man’s moving backwards. Holloway’s got nasty, very, very good kicks with a lot of dexterity. The way Max can beat the boxing of Poirier is by using his kicks and using his range. This teep kick slides in there like a jab. I think we’re gonna see more kicks, more knees, more elbows, and a lot more trickiness out of Max Holloway this time.”
We’ll find out in just a few days.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 318 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 318 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 318: “Holloway vs. Poirier 3” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 318 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
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