The UFC brought a night of action to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, to celebrate an MMA legend as he rode into the sunset following UFC 318.
It was the UFC's seventh visit to the Big Easy and its second event at the Smoothie King Center. The last time the UFC was in this building a UFC Fight Night card in June 2015 that saw Dan Henderson knock out Tim Boetsch in just 29 seconds.
That card also featured Dustin Poirier, and UFC 318 saw him in main event capacity, being celebrated for the end of an accomplished and widely-praised career with plenty of accolades. Poirier's final fight saw him face Max Holloway with Holloway's BMF title on the line.
Holloway had been the BMF champion since UFC 300, when he knocked out Justin Gaethje in the 2024 Knockout of the Year. Holloway, however, was coming into this fight off a loss, unsuccessful in challenging Ilia Topuria for the UFC featherweight title at UFC 308 last fall.
Poirier, who made his MMA debut in 2009 before debuting in the UFC on New Year's Day 2011, also came in off his own successful title challenge, coming up short against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 last year.
The co-main event saw former middleweight title challenge Paulo Costa, who had lost four of five, look to rebound against the up-and-coming Roman Kopylov.
Who came out on top? Who disappointed? Find it all out here with the hits and misses of UFC 318!
There were plenty of concerns about the name value quality of this UFC pay-per-view card. But in terms of how the fights actually played out, however, several of the preliminary card fighters need to be shown some praise for their performances.
The early prelims, in fact, went 5-for-5 in finishes. It all started with Carli Judice putting on a clinic before putting Nicolle Caliari out with a solid knee to the body. Then came three straight submissions, with Brunno Ferreira, Ryan Spann, and Jimmy Crute all finding success in the first round. Spann and Crute's performances were highlighted in particular -- Spann scored a win at heavyweight in his second attempt, while Crute got a victory in the Octagon for the first time since 2020.
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Then came the UFC debut of Islam Dulatov, and he made the anticipation worth it with his first-round knockout of Adam Fugitt.
To top it off, Ateba Gautier needed just 70 seconds to put away Robert Valentin to open up the televised portion of the prelims.
This isn't to say the rest of the card was bad. But to see these kinds of finishes when there were plenty of questions about the card's quality is a solid answer to those concerns.
It seems old-man strength is prevalent in the UFC right now. Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, it's unanimously agreed, was robbed of a win against Gabriel Bonfim at UFC Nashville last week -- the same card headlined by 40-year-old Derrick Lewis taking the "0" away from Tallison Teixeira.
And once again, against an up-and-comer, Michael Johnson brings out a vintage impressive performance, as he defeated Daniel Zellhuber to open the pay-per-view portion of the event.
While the fight between the pair started with a back-and-forth striking battle, Johnson took the momentum by dropping Zellhuber in the second round. Johnson then fought tactically and worked over Zellhuber's body and neutralized his speed en route to a decision win.
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Johnson's not going to challenge for the lightweight title at anytime soon, but it's definitely fun to still see him in there putting on fun and competitive showings the very best in this sport. And I can't wait for the next one.
I'm going to start by saying I think it was a little ridiculous that we saw the New Orleans crowd booing this matchup and people on social media saying Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull was the worst fight ever. Do we not remember the likes of Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000 and Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis?
But that doesn't mean the fight didn't live to what it could have been. I wish Ige and Pitbull's fight was more exciting. And while Pitbull had the best round of his UFC tenure so far (not saying much), the outing between him and a lower-ranked featherweight contender in Ige doesn't scream improvement.
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For me, I don't know if I'd give Ige a shot against another one of these other UFC contenders yet. Whether you think Ige still should have a ranking or not (and I say that with still holding high respect for the man), and whether you think Pitbull should face another ranked featherweight or not, I think there's one fight more worth it.
Aaron Pico is about to debut in the UFC, but he just lost his intended debut opponent -- the highly-ranked Movsar Evloev. Given what Patchy Mix and Patricio Pitbull have done thus far in the UFC, and that Evloev should be in line for a title shot instead, I think a Pitbull vs. Pico matchup would be an awesome idea. And Pitbull seems to agree.
Your move, UFC.
We should have gotten this matchup a few years ago at UFC 279, but Khamzat Chimaev's weight miss for that event brought absolute chaos that robbed us.
Three years later, it was definitely worth the wait to see Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez play out -- and big ups to D-Rod for winning it.
After wobbling Holland a bit early in the first, D-Rod followed it up by dropping Holland twice in the second. To Holland's credit, he responded by nearly locking in an armbar and D'Arce choke while scoring a pair of takedowns on Rodriguez.
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Holland then stunned Rodriguez with an uppercut before threatening another choke. Holland tried to pressure, and D-Rod answered with his own pressure. Both had another submission attempt, and D-Rod got mount in the bout's final minute.
My brief descriptions don't do this justice though -- you need to watch the second and third rounds, the third especially, for yourself!
I'll give credit where it's due: Paulo Costa looked back to the Costa we saw rise through the middleweight rankings in the late 2010s.
Costa mixed up his striking throughout his battle with Roman Kopylov, making Kopylov unable to guess what was coming next and troubling him. Costa would even rock Kopylov late in the first round before doing so again twice in the second. Costa was troubled in the third, getting wobbled himself, but he outlasted the stun and fatigue to work his way to a decision win.
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Now it's time to see if Costa is really back or if this was a one-time thing. And looking at the rankings, a matchup with Brendan Allen could be an interesting idea for his next fight. Perhaps Reiner de Ridder could be an opponent, too, should he lose to Robert Whittaker this coming weekend.
If you've ever talked to Max Holloway outside of the cage, you know he's one of the chillest dudes. But in the cage, he's a bad, bad man. And he showed that with the war he and Poirier put on in the main event.
After a measured start, Holloway dropped Poirier in the first and second rounds, nearly finishing him both times. Poirier, however, showed grit by rallying back with big shots of his own. He'd knock Holloway down in round two and nearly was able to get a guillotine.
The later rounds featured momentum swings, with Holloway using combinations and movement while Poirier responded with pressure and body shots. The fifth round saw the two exchange in classic BMF fashion, including another throw down in the center -- albeit one that saw Poirier clinch up.
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Holloway called out Ilia Topuria for a rematch, this time at lightweight, but I don't know if that's the plan. If Islam Makhachev wins the welterweight title (hopefully that match comes later this year), I think the MMA community (hopefully including the UFC) wants to see that matchup made for 2026.
If the BMF belt really is staying around, let's have Holloway defend it again. And if he's sticking to lightweight, perhaps a matchup with Charles Oliveira (above Holloway in the rankings) or Dan Hooker (just below him in the rankings) could do battle? Or for something wild, if only because Michael Chandler is out of title contention and you still want him to do something before a potential Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler White House battle, you could do Holloway vs. Chandler.
Really? Like, really? We sure about this? Because I don't know about this one, chief.
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We had Holloway vs. Poirier (a retiring Poirier, mind you) putting on an entertaining battle with plenty of moments and left everyone celebrating the two. We had Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez putting on a wild back-and-forth battle.
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But Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen gets Fight of the Night honors? It was a fine fight, but if we're talking about -- by its name -- THE Fight of the Night, one of those other two should have taken it.
I know that the fighters who compete lower on the card could use more of the post-fight bonuses due to the UFC's pay structure. That's not wrong. But when it's called Fight of the Night and you don't give it to one of the best fights on the night...then what are we doing?
It's just another example of how the pay structure in MMA is kind of screwed up.
I don't think anything else needs to be said. All the hits and then some to this absolute legend of the game.
Poirier has been one of the most entertaining, all-around fighters I have ever watched. He is a scrappy fighter who made the most of the moments that came his way. He's had plenty of entertaining fights and finishes.
And his resume speaks for itself. The wars he has had with the likes of Holloway, Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and more are enough to show you just how amazing this man has been in the Octagon.
And outside of the Octagon, this man is a class act.
I'll tell a personal story. I got to meet Dustin Poirier while attending the 2022 Dr. Atlas Foundation Dinner. The class act this man was other level. He was willing to chat (I mentioned that he didn't have a scratch on him and this was less than 10 days or so after his fight with Michael Chandler at MSG), he donated for the foundation, and he was so personable.
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And if you saw what everyone -- from his family, to his fellow fighters, to commentators of the sport -- have to say about Dustin Poirier, he's a legend inside and outside of the cage.
Diamonds forever.
See you in the Hall of Fame soon, Dustin.
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