Although Islam Makhachev may no longer reign atop the UFC’s lightweight division, the former pound-for-pound kingpin will be keeping a close eye on the UFC 318 Holloway-Poirier main event next weekend.
While speaking with MMAJunkie’s Mike Bohn, Makhachev dropped his prediction for the fight, indicating that he feels as though The Diamond, who he says is one of two former opponents he respects, will get the win in his big retirement fight:
“I think Dustin has more chance [to win]. He told me this is his last fight and I think he’s going to be ready. He’s going to be ready. He’s going to win, I think.”
Ahead of the fight, the MMA community seems pretty split down the middle regarding how things will play out.
At the time of publication, on FanDuel, Holloway has -122 odds to win, while on the flip side, Poirier has -104 odds.
Max Holloway Has No Problem Being The Bad Guy at UFC 318
Given his fighting style and the fact that he’s been with the UFC for well over a decade now, Holloway has become a fan favorite.
Despite that, when he steps into the Octagon next Saturday in New Orleans, the crowd will almost certainly be behind Louisiana’s own Dustin Poirier.
Although playing the quote-unquote, bad guy, heading into a fight is new for the former featherweight kingpin, he’s embracing the role heading into UFC 318.
As he explained in his own interview with MMAJunkie’s Mike Bohn this week:
“At the end of the day, if I got to be the bad guy- I mean, I want to be the bad guy ’cause it is his last dance and I want to get my hand raise, and so be it. Business is business.
“At the end of the day, I’ll be the bad guy for maybe the week, 25 minutes, and after that it’s all said and done.”
Previewing the Full UFC 318 Holloway-Poirier Card
With less than two weeks to go until the UFC hits New Orleans for the Holloway-Poirier trilogy, let’s take a look at the full fight card.
The 14-fight event will feature a five-fight main card that has a number of bout that could wind up being fight-of-the-year contenders.
A lightweight bout between longtime veteran Michael Johnson and Dana White Contender Series alum Daniel Zellhuber will kick off the main card, with Johnson looking to build on a two-fight win streak and Zellhuber looking to get back in the win column.
From there, Dan Ige and Patricio Pitbull will throw down in a featherweight bout, leading into a welterweight scrap between Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez that’s been years in the making.
The two were originally scheduled to fight in 2022 on the UFC 279 card, however, after Khamzat Chimaev missed weight, Holland agreed to fight him at catchweight, while Rodriguez went on to fight Li Jingliang.
And finally, in the co-main event, Paulo Costa will return to action against Roman Kopylov, who is fresh off a highlight-reel KO win against Chris Curtis back in January.
The full UFC 318 card can be seen below:
Main Card
- Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier
- Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov
- Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull
- Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Preliminary Card
- Kyler Phillips vs. Vinicius Oliveira
- Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen
- Francisco Prado vs. Nikolay Veretennikov
- Ateba Gautier vs. Robert Valentin
Early Prelims
- Adam Fugitt vs. Islam Dulatov
- Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio
- Ryan Spann vs. Lukasz Brzeski
- Brunno Ferreira vs. Jackson McVey
- Carli Judice vs. Nicolle Caliari
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