UFC 318’s best betting props, parlays and picks | Holloway vs. Poirier 3

UFC 318 happens this weekend (Sat., July 19, 2025) inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The pay-per-view (PPV) main event is a trilogy, retirement and a BMF fight all rolled into one violent spliff with Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier 3.

Despite there being a belt (kinda) on the line for this one, “The Diamond” says he’s a at peace walking away from the sport without an undisputed UFC title victory.

The rest of this card falls off pretty hard after the main event. The co-main is Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov. Rounding out UFC 318’s PPV main card is Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber and Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez.

UFC 318’s late “Prelims” are headlined by Kyler Phillips vs. Vinicius Oliveira. The part of the card also has the bad blood showdown between Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen.

The early “Prelims” feature Adam Fugitt vs. Islam Dulatov and Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio.

As always, there’s lots to bet on this card and we’ve got odds for all the fights below:

UFC 318 Main Card Money Line Odds

Max Holloway (-142) vs. Dustin Poirier (+120)

Our UFC 318 main event is a rare trilogy fight where one fighter is 2-0. I won’t go over the first two fights between these, two, you’ll be hearing about those non stop via UFC’s trailers and promos. I care about what both men have done, lately.

Holloway last competed in Oct. 2024, where he was TKO’d by Ilia Topuria (who seems capable of knocking out anyone on the planet right now). The stoppage came in the third round and featured Holloway reacting to punches like we’ve rarely seen (see the finish here). Part of this might be Holloway’s natural decline (he’s 33 in human years, but 53 in fight years). However, it’s more likely that Holloway’s performance was due to the brilliance of Topuria (since we’ve seen him blow through others who are rarely blown through).

Before that Topuria fight, Holloway won his epic buzzer beating fight with Justin Gaethje (see it here) and outclassed both Chan Sung Jung and Arnold Allen.

In the opposite corner, Poirier is coming off an unsuccessful title shot against Islam Makhachev. The 36-year-old gave Makhachev plenty of trouble before succumbing to a fifth round d’arce choke (see it here). I don’t want to say that Makhachev played with his food in this fight, but it did seem like he gave Poirier some space to trade with him early on, as if he wanted to show us something on the feet or perhaps even learn on the job.

Before that, Poirier obliterated Benoit Saint-Denis, someone he was supposed to do the J-O-B for, in 90s wrestling parlance. And before that, Poirier lost to a Justin Gaethje head kick (see it here).

Fighters in retirement fights don’t have the best record. But, I think Poirier has enough working in his favor, that his own acceptance that he’s not as sharp as he used to be isn’t enough for me to fade him in this situation.

Poirier is not retiring well past his expiry date. He’s being very wise here. In Okinawa they say you should eat until you are 80 percent full. I think fighters should compete until they are 80 percent convinced they should retire. Poirier feels like he’s in that zone. At 36 he could probably fight on for another four years, but he’s deciding to end it now (and I hope he sticks to it). This means he’s a very dangerous ‘retirement fight fighter’, perhaps the most dangerous we’ve ever seen.

He’s also been served up a bit of a softball in a fighter he has beaten twice already, who is only three years younger than him, coming off a technical knockout loss, is known for exploits at a smaller weight class.

I think Poirier will have plenty left in the tank for this fight and that his size and diversity of skills will, again, be too much for Holloway to handle.

Both these guys are primarily strikers, but both have drastically different approaches to wrestling and grappling. Holloway’s focus is to avoid those situations and he’s very good at doing that. Poirier’s is to roll with them and find ways to win on the ground.

I see this fight taking place entirely on the feet, but should it go anywhere else Poirier should win those moments of the fight.

On the feet, I think Poirier’s reach and power advantage will trump Holloway’s volume and activity. I don’t think the Topuria technical knockout is a sign that Holloway’s chin is gone, but I just think Poirier will be landing the harder shots in the exchanges and that they will be hard enough for the judges to notice.

This feels like it’s going to either be a decision or a stoppage win for Poirier. If Holloway still has his whereabouts in the final ten seconds, I think we are gauranteed a ‘point to the center of the cage moment’. It would be pretty poetic if Holloway called for that and then Poirier KO’d him before riding off into the sunset.

The odds are close here, but I’m surprised that Poirier has plus odds. I think that’s due to this being a retirement fight for him more than anything else.

I love a point spread when the guy I’m picking is getting the points. You can get Poirier at +5.5 for -195. If you think Holloway finishes Poirier or dominates him on the scorecards you can get -5.5 for +140.

The round total is 4.5 and that too good a line for me to play with. I think we’re either getting a decision or a late, late finish, so there’s too much risk for me there. If I had to pick I’d go over for -160.

Method of victory for this fight has decision at -135, KO/TKO/DQ for +130 and submission for +750.

There are lots of interesting same fight parlays floating around, but none of them line up with how I’m thinking this goes (Poirier by either late knockout or decision). Because of that, I’m just going with a rather mundane moneyline bet. I’m doing this, and not the point spread, because I’m quite confident Poirier gets this done without the need of the points.

Best bet: Dustin Poirier moneyline (+120)

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Paulo Costa (+195) vs. Roman Kopylov (-238)

This is a PPV co-main event?!?!? Okay …

We haven’t seen Costa since June 2024, when he was stifled by Sean Strickland’s game. A game everyone knew he would employ and which Costa had months to figure out a solution to, which didn’t include just chasing him around and getting tagged on the counter before gassing out.

Before that, he lost a decision to Robert Whittaker. Borrachinha’s last win was a 2022 victory over Luke Rockhold.

Kopylov, meanwhile, is a nine-fight Octagon veteran. He beat Chris Curtis with a head kick at 4:59 in the third round last time out (re-live that here). Curtis was incensed to see the fight stopped with a second left, but Kopylov was on route to a decision win, anyway. Before that fight he beat the much feared GLORY transfer Cesar Almeida via split decision (I think the split was rather generous to Almeida, though).

This is a hard fight to pick because we don’t know what version of Costa shows up. Costa’s career has been maligned by a seeming lack of attention and dedication. When things were easy for him, he breezed through low level opponents racking up KOs. But when things got tough, he struggled and spent lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Kopylov doesn’t have any of those question marks around him. He may not be as talented as Costa, but that doesn’t mean he can’t win — especially against someone who doesn’t seem capable of consistently accessing their talent.

Costa is a brawler with not much interest in taking things to the ground. He lands 6.22 sig. strikes a minute, but also absorbs 6.56. Absorbing more than you land is a big red flag for me. Costa also has very mediocre defense on sig. strikes (49 percent).

Kopylov isn’t much better in these stats. He lands 4.96 sig. strikes and absorbs 4.86 with a defense of 55 percent.

Costa does have better accuracy on his strikes (58 percent versus 50 percent). I think that’s significant. The accuracy and volume stat means that Costa might outland Kopylov on the feet.

Strangely, Kopylov has a habbit of winning fights where he’s out-landed. Curtis outstruck him 142 to 130 and Almeida outstruck him 58 to 41. In those fights Kopylov made good use of the takedown. He got Curtis down once and took Almeida down four times.

Costa’s takedown defense (a very good 80 percent) might prevent that, though. That’s only if he’s on his game, though, which is not a given.

I’m leaning toward Costa in this fight. But, I’m loathe to pick him because I can’t trust him to fight to his potential in any given bout. Kopylov isn’t as sexy as a fighter, but he at least seems to be trying to do his best every time he gets out there.

Instead of gambling with Costa’s mood and state of mind, I think I’m just going to go with the round total here (something I’m going to do a lot of on this card). Costa has only been stopped once in his career, by a prime Israel Adesanya (see it here) and his own stopping power seems to have declined.

Kopylov has plenty of stoppages, but not against this level of competition.

Best bet: Over 2.5 rounds (-230)

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Kevin Holland (-500) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (+380)

Holland looked great last time out, landing an anaconda choke on Vicente Luque (see it here). That fight was only in June. Before that, in March, he took a comfortable decision over Gunnar Nelson. In January he was quickly beaten by Reinier de Ridder (see it here).

Rodriguez, on the other hand, looked very sharp in his last fight, stopping Santiago Ponznibbio in the third round for just his third UFC stoppage. Prior to that he won a split decision against Alex Morono.

Holland is big favorite in this fight for several reasons. He’s a more powerful striker than Rodriguez and he compliments his striking with nasty and opportunistic grappling. Rodriguez is very much just a volume striker without much wrestling/grappling to back it up.

Holland will also have a commanding seven inch reach advantage. Rodriguez, who likes to fight behind a jab, is going to find it hard to establish his outside game with Holland sitting out of range and landing big looping shots.

Rodriguez has fought guys with shorter reaches in his last three fights. The last person he met who was noticeably longer than him was Neil Magny (who subbed him with a d’arce choke in the third — a move Holland is especially good at).

I think the adjustment wil be too much for Rodriguez and he won’t be able to land his kind of volume (7.39 sig. strikes a minute) on Holland.

I’m on the fence about whether I see Holland getting a finish or not in this bout. His submission threat, from front chokes primarily, have me leaning toward this ending inside the distance.

I like Holland by submission at +240, but I’ll just play the under here.

Best bet: Under 2.5 rounds (-166)

Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Dan Ige (-205) vs. Patricio Pitbull (+170)

Pitbull’s UFC debut in April went about as well as expected. The 38 year-old looked slow and well past his best as he dropped a lopsided decision to Yair Rodriguez.

His opponent in “Music City,” Ige, actually competed on that same card, beating Sean Woodson, though not without controversy. Ige was struggling with Woodson’s herky-jerky and negative style up until the third round. Ige hurt Woodson in the third before benefitting from an early stoppage. That win, on paper, saw Ige bounce back from decision losses to Lerone Murphy and Diego Lopes (whom he fought on a day’s notice).

I’m not anticipating Pitbull to show much improvement in this fight. Ige will have four years and four inches of reach advantage over him and I think he’s going to be able to keep Pitbull at range and earn a decision over him.

I don’t think this match-up is as lopsided as Pitbull vs. Rodriguez, but it’s still very difficult to build a case for Pitbull, given how lethargic he looked in his debut. I suppose the ‘Octagon jitters’ could be a thing, but I wouldn’t expect that from someone as experienced as he is and someone who has featured in Bellator and Rizin’s big tentpole shows for years.

I think this is all just too little, too late for Pitbull in UFC.

Best bet: Dan Ige moneyline (-205)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Michael Johnson (+410) vs. Daniel Zellhuber (-550)

Johnson turned back the clock in his last fight, flooring Ottman Azaitar with a right hook (see it here). Before that, he took a decision over Darrius Flowers. The 39-year-old has a 15-15 UFC record.

Zellhuber’s super prospect status failed to materialize after losing to Trey Ogden back in his proper Octagon debut. Since then he’s taken wins over Lando Vannata, Christos Giagos and Francisco Prado. Only the Giagos fight was a finish (see it here). Last time out he lost a split decision to Esteban Ribovics. I felt Ribovics was the very deserved winner, though.

Zellhuber can’t help but get himself into wild brawls. His last two fights were “Fight of the Night” winners.

I think he could get another “Fight of the Night” here, too. We know that Johnson isn’t afraid to throw down and throw caution to the wind.

I think Johnson has more power than Zellhuber. But, he’s also got the weaker chin (thanks to age and miles on the clock). If we’re getting rock ‘em sock ‘em robots out of these two it will be a race to see whether Johnson’s fist can score the win before his chin hands him the loss.

Zellhuber has never scored a TKO or KO in UFC. He has his best shot at doing that here, though, against a 39 year-old who was KO’d as recently as 2023.

Zellhuber will also have a four-inch reach advantage to play with here. Ultimately, I think that and his activity (lands 6.26 sig. strikes per minute compared to 4.23 by Johnson) will put him in the best position to get a stoppage or win enough exchanges to get the decision.

The round total has been set at 1.5 for this (a theme on this card). But, I think this goes way deeper than that.

Best bet: Over 1.5 rounds (-250)

UFC 318 Late ‘Prelims’ Under Card Odds

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Kyler Phillips (+130) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (-155)

Phillips failed his audition to become a top ten Bantamweight last time out after losing to a very well seasoned Rob Font. Phillips was a distant second best in that fight and I can understand why he might have wanted a lot of time off since then. Prior to that loss he had beaten Pedro Munhoz and Raoni Barcelos by unanimous decisions.

Oliveira, meanwhile, has been passing his auditions lately and has broken into the Top 15 with wins over Said Nurmagomedov and Ricky Simon. And he’s looked good doing it. He used his striking to beat the wrestler Simon and then used his wrestling/grappling to beat the striker Nurmagomedov.

Both Oliveira and Phillips are similarly well rounded. Oliveira’s striking is more fun and potentially more explosive. Phillips wrestling is a lot better, though Oliveira might have the edge with BJJ.

I think this is a good match-up and we’re going to see this fight take place across all the dimensions of MMA. I slightly favor Oliveira because of his momentum and his power. Oliveira also has great balance and takedown defense (76 percent), too. His ability to prevent Phillips racking up points with takedowns and top position might make the difference here.

Best bet: Vinicius Oliveira moneyline (-155)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Marvin Vettori (+170) vs. Brendan Allen (-205)

This fight has UFC APEX headliner written all over it. So much so that I’m shocked to see it here as a PPV “Prelims” bout.

Vettori is coming off two APEX main events, both of which he lost by decision; one was to Jared Cannonier and the other was to Roman Dolidze. Vettori’s last win was a decision against Dolidze in 2023.

Allen, on the other hand, is coming of a co-main event decision loss to Anthony Hernandez, where he looked OK (which is a decent feat given how “Fluffy” has looked lately). Before that, he lost another co-main event by decision. That fight was against Nassourdine Imavov.

Allen’s last win was a split decision over Chris Curtis.

Despite these guys being similar ages, it feels like time and the game has caught up to Vettori in recent years. Wheras Allen has seemed to be slowly improving over that time. I think both these guys have peaked at this point, though Vettori might be further on the decline than Allen is right now.

I think the gas tank is going to be pivotal in this fight. Allen has a lot of energy, which he puts to good use in dragging opponents into exhausting (physically and mentally) clinch work and grappling exchanges.

Vettori has traditionally had very good takedown defense, but Cannonier got him down four times. I don’t think Allen is going to land a blast double leg takedown on him, but I can see him pressing Vettori into the fence and finding ways to get behind him or drag him down.

Vettori is the better striker in this bout, but I don’t think he’s so dominant in that category that he’s going to hurt Allen (especially not at this stage in his career).

I think we could see a close fight from these, too, and I fancy Allen to come out on top. He looked better in defeat than Vettori did in his last fight and I think he’ll get enough control time in various positions to convince the judges he’s the winner.

Best bet: Brendan Allen moneyline (-205)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Francisco Prado (-142) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (+120)

Veretennikov was a sore loser last time out, shoving Austin Vanderford after getting dominated and stopped in the second round. He thought the stoppage was early, but … cry me a river. He was well on his way to losing that fight and didn’t seem to have any answers for Vanderford’s wrestling. Dana White didn’t seem to mind his post-fight antics, though.

That made Veretennikov 0-2 in UFC.

Prado, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Jake Matthews. It was a closer fight than the scorecards suggested, though. Prior to that he had a Fight of the Night losing effort opposite Daniel Zellhuber. The Matthews fight was Prado’s Welterweight debut.

Prado struggled against the bigger Matthews. He’s got a big size disadvantage in this one, too. He’s giving up a five inch reach advantage to Veretennikov.

I don’t know how significant that is, though, given that Veretennikov lands a paltry 2.73 sig. strikes per minute (while absorbing 3.54). Prado also has a sig. striking deficit. He lands 4.38 and absorbs 5.32.

I’m more keen on the fighter who is landing more in this situation, but I’m not expecting a lights out performance from Prado. I feel like this is a fight that might never get out of first gear, with Prado looking the better fighter but not managing to get much going from range. He could catch Veretennikov on the counter, but I don’t know if Veretennikov is going to come forward much — his striking style has been quite negative so far.

I’ll just take the over here, expecting a forgettable decision.

Best bet: Over 2.5 rounds (-166)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Ateba Gautier (-550) vs. Robert Valentin (+410)

Valentin has not looked good since coming off of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). In his finale fight with Ryan Loder, he was easily taken down and got himself stuck in a crucifix for a technical knockout loss. His next fight with Torrez Finney was comically awful and featured Finney taking Valentin down on repeat on route to one of the most lackluster and depressing decision wins we’ve ever seen.

Valentin won’t have to worry about his terrible takedown defense being tested in this fight. The UFC have set him up with a flamethrower this time around.

On the flip side, Gautier came off a technical knockout win on Contender Series in September. In March he had his proper debut. He treated Jose Medina like a punching bag for three minutes before putting him down with a knee (see it here). Now, Medina showed very little striking defense in that bout and seemed content to try and smile through Gautier’s offense. Even so, Gautier looks like he could do some damage against someone who is actually trying not to get hit.

Valentin has a reputation as a striker and he got a scary KO on TUF. But, I think we’ve seen now that TUF is the lowest level development vehicle UFC has (below even Road to UFC).

Gautier is also very big for the weight class and will have height and reach over Valentin. I think he puts him away and that’s the last we see of Valentin in the Octagon. I’ll take the under here, since there’s more value than Gautier’s -550 moneyline.

Best bet: Under 1.5 rounds (+114)

UFC 318 Early ‘Prelims’ Under Card Odds

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Adam Fugitt (+440) vs. Islam Dulatov (-600)

Dulatov, at this time of writing, is the biggest favorite on the card. And he’s an interesting cat. He’s a fashion model who has done work for heavy hitters like Gucci. He’s German, but was born in Chechnya. And he’s 11-1, coming off an elbow knockout on Contender Series.

Fugitt, meanwhile, has been out for more than a full year. In his last fight, he got a split decision over Josh Quinlan.

We know more about Fugitt than we do about Dulatov. And we’ve seen Vegas slap shiny low odds on plenty of debut guys coming off Contender Series. Vegas is mostly right about these.

Even so, I think there should be some buyer beware notices on Dulatov, simply because the highest level he’s competed at is OKTAGON (he also has a 30-second submission over Will Chope — remember him?).

If I were more impressed with Fugitt I would question the line more. As it stands, though, I’ll just question the round total. Vegas has that at 1.5 rounds, so they are really expecting Dulatov to come in and wreck Fugitt.

I’ll lean into my skepticism here and put my money on this being a closer fight that at least gets half way through the second round.

Best bet: Over 1.5 rounds (+145)

Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Jimmy Crute (-310) vs. Marcin Prachnio (+250)

Crute fought Rodolfo Bellato to a majority draw in February, thanks to scoring a 10-8 round one and then losing rounds two and three. Before that he was submitted by Alonzo Menifield. And before that he fought Menifield to a majority draw. Crute hasn’t won a fight since 2020 when he TKO’d Modestas Bukauskas.

The 17-8 Prachnio is coming off a loss to Bukauskas. He was submitted in the second round one year ago (see it here). Before that he took a decision over Devin Clark.

Prachnio is a kickboxer who lands a decent volume, but doesn’t have the power or defense to be successful in UFC. Crute is more diverse and his ability to strike and wrestle is probably going to make the difference in this fight.

Crute lands 3.86 takedowns per 15 minutes. Prachnio has a sub-par 53 percent takedown defense. Crute will likely get a couple of takedowns. That, paired with some even brawling on the feet, spells a probable decision win for the Aussie.

Best bet: Jimmy Crute moneyline (-310)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Ryan Spann (-230) vs. Lukasz Brzeski (+190)

Things did not go great for Spann in his UFC Heavyweight debut in March. Waldo Cortes-Acosta was able to pepper him with shots before putting him down late in the second round (see it here).

He made the jump up in weight after going 1-3 in the last two years, with the only win being a first round guillotine on Ovince St. Preux.

Brzeski, on the other hand, has been awful in UFC, going 1-5. That win was a unanimous decision he managed to get over Valter Walker, before Walter discovered he can just heel hook every UFC Heavyweight on the roster. Brzeski has been stopped in three of his losses with knockouts coming against Kennedy Nzechukwu, Mick Parkin and Cortes-Acosta.

This is a a hard fight to call simply because of the lack of durability in both corners. 67 percent of Brzeski’s losses are by TKO/KO, while 45 percent of Spann’s losses come that way.

It seems unlikely that one of these guys will make it through the entire fight with their consciousnesses intact. I feel like Spann has the more power in his hands and is thus more likely to be the hammer and not the nail here. But I’m not sure enough of that to bet on him, especially since we still have questions about whether he can hang at Heavyweight.

I think we need to look at the round total here, which is 1.5 rounds. The over is +124 and the under is -160. All of Brzeski’s UFC stoppage losses are in the first round, so our best bet is probably the under.

Best bet: Under 1.5 rounds (-160)

Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images

Brunno Ferreira (-675) vs. Jackson McVey (+490)

You gotta feel for McVey. The undefeated (6-0) Middleweight scored a quick technical knockout at LFA last month and then got the dream call to fight inside T-Mobile Arena for UFC 317. However, his original opponent, Sedriques Dumas, had to bow out due to his ankle monitor inhibiting his ability to travel. That was a pretty competitive fight on paper. Dumas was replaced by Christopher Ewert (who had been waiting on a Contender Series fight). Ewert couldn’t make weight, though. McVey was favored to win that one.

Now, McVey has been slid over to UFC 318 and given the knockout machine that is Ferreira.

Ferreira is coming off an armbar win over Armen Petrosyan (that saw “Superman” booted from the promotion — see it here). Before that he lost, by arm triangle, to Abus Magomedov in a fight where he hurt Magomedov (see it here). And before that he obliterated Dustin Stoltzfus with a spinning elbow (see it here). He’s also got a TKO over Phil Hawes (see it here).

McVey might be a decent talent, but this matchmaking tells us UFC doesn’t really care about that. He might surprise us here, he’s got a lot of size on Ferreira. Though, Ferreira is used to being the smaller man at Middleweight.

With no value on picking Ferreira’s moneyline, I might as well play with the round total. The round total is set at 1.5 with the over +220 and the under -298. Four of Ferreira’s six UFC fights have ended in the first round. All of McVey’s six wins have come in the first round, too.

Best bet: Under 1.5 rounds (-298)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Carli Judice (-305) vs. Nicolle Caliari (+245)

Judice got her first UFC win last time out, after she sat Yuneisy Dubin down with a head kick (see it here). She lost her two prior bouts, both split decisions, to Gabriella Fernandes and Ernesta Kareckaite. The 26 year-old’s record is just 4-2.

Meanwhile, 28-year-old Caliari is 8-3, but just 0-1 in UFC. She lost a split decision to Kareckaite in her promotional debut (after an armbar win on Contender Series).

Caliari struggled in the striking department against the long and lean Kareckaite. She absorbed 95 sig. strikes and landed just three of fourteen takedown attempts. She had a nine reach disadvantage in that one. This time around she’ll have a six inch reach disadvantage. I think it will cause her similar problems and Judice (who has better takedown defense than Kareckaite) should be able to eek out a decision.

Best bet: Carli Judice moneyline (-305)

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

UFC 318 Long Shots!

Here’s a couple of long shots for Saturday night’s action …

Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier to end in a draw (+5000)

Maybe we get both men walking away with claims to the BMF title after this one? A draw between these two legends, after a good fight, might be the kind of thing the MMA Gods have drawn up for this one. We most likely need a 10-8 round to get there. I can see one of these guys getting off to a hot start in the first and almost finishing the other. Then, the almost finished fighter comes back and takes three of four remaining rounds. That gets us 47-47.

Two-fight parlay: Kevin Holland, Brendan Allen to win via submission (+1770)

Holland is great at snatching up d’arce, anaconda and ninja chokes from standing. Rodriguez has been caught by a d’arce in the past. I think Holland might have some success wrapping his long arms around his smaller opponent’s neck. And Allen is a great back taker. Vettori can really slow down in a fight when he’s losing on the scorecards. I can see him giving up his back in the third and tapping to an RNC to speed up his fate.

First minute finish: Ateba Gautier vs. Robert Valentin (+600)

Ateba Gautier is a hot prospect with hands of stone. Valentin appears to be enhancement talent in this one. Valentin has been itching for an opponent who will stand and bang with him. I think he comes out swinging and eats a massive counter here.

LIVE! Watch UFC 318 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

LEGENDARY TRILOGY / BMF SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., July 19, 2025, with a thrilling trilogy set to headline UFC 318 from inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. In UFC 318’s PPV main event, Max Holloway defends his BMF title against former interim Lightweight champion (and No. 3-ranked contender), Dustin Poirier, in a high-stakes, five-round clash that will mark the final fight for “The Diamond” before he retires from the sport. UFC 318’s PPV co-main event features Middleweight contenders Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov in a pivotal 185-pound bout rescheduled from UFC 317. UFC 318 will also showcase a Welterweight clash between Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez, a Featherweight showdown pitting Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, a Lightweight bout featuring Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber and much more! UFC 318’s start time is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 318 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

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.