Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held its official pre-fight press conference on Thursday (watch here) for the upcoming UFC 318 pay-per-view (PPV) event, locked and loaded for this Sat. (July 19, 2025) inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. All 10 main card combatants were on hand this afternoon and came face-to-face at the conclusion of the UFC 318 press conference festivities.
That includes the headliners, Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier. Holloway defends his ‘BMF’ for the first time
in a high-stakes trilogy against Poirier, who is fighting in his retirement bout. In the co-main event, former UFC Middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa defends his spot against Russian knockout artist Roman Kopylov. In addition, Kevin Holland finally takes on Daniel Rodriguez, Patricio Pitbull tries to claim his first UFC win by taking on Dan Ige, and Michael Johnson takes on top Mexican prospect Daniel Zellhuber.
Watch the staredowns below.
Holloway vs. Poirier 3
Holloway vs. Poirier 3 pic.twitter.com/1yIMA5GiVp
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 17, 2025
Costa vs. Kopylov
Costa vs. Kopylov pic.twitter.com/oP5cUgu9iO
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 17, 2025
Holland vs. Rodriguez
Holland vs. Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/hBxfnZFbE6
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 17, 2025
Pitbull vs. Ige
Ige vs. Pitbull pic.twitter.com/HG5PgAat58
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 17, 2025
Johnson vs. Zellhuber
Johnson vs. Zellhuber pic.twitter.com/0lgAqoU6jq
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 17, 2025
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 316 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ preliminary card matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 316 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 316: “Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 316 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
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