Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier had one hell of a banger.
In a highly emotional fight, Poirier and Holloway went to war for five rounds and both fighters came close to winning at certain points. Holloway got the better of Dustin in the first round thanks to a critical knock down. But Dustin came back in the second late by dropping Holloway and putting on a guillotine.
The emotional battle came to an end with Dustin and Max trading fists until the bell rang. Ultimately, Max would get his first win over Poirier, but that didn’t end the celebration of Poirier. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and the UFC played a video that ended with Dustin tearing up.
"It's been overwhelming, honestly. I feel appreciated, I feel seen.” Dustin said in the post fight interview. "I've never got to step outside a fight and look at it this way ... but this week was unbelievable. I feel loved by the fans, Louisiana and the company. It's been incredible. I didn't know I touched as many people as I did just by chasing my dreams."
Though Dustin went out with a loss, the Louisiana native is one of the greatest fighters to never win a major title within the UFC. Poirier got huge wins over Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje; he’s also had plenty of classics throughout his career. He leaves with a professional record of 30 wins and 10 losses.
In the co-main event, Paulo Costa outclassed Roman Kopylov to get his first win in three years. This was a rather dominant win for the UFC Middleweight title challenger, and it showcased the old Paulo who many thought would become a UFC Champion someday. After his win, Costa wasted no time in calling out Khamzat Chimaev.
“Everybody knows I hate that guy, everybody knows who, that motherf*cker [Khamzat] Chimaev,” Costa shouted. “He’s a big assh*le. He says bad things about me about [my wife]. He is a coward. I’m going to chase you. I will not stop until I get to you.”
Chimaev will be fighting Dricus du Plessis for the UFC Middleweight Championship next, so it’s doubtful that they’ll lock horns any time soon, but stranger things have happened.
Check out the full results for UFC 318 below:
Main Card
BMF championship: Max Holloway def. Dustin Poirier via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Middleweight: Paulo Costa def. Roman Kopylov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez def. Kevin Holland via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight: Patricio Pitbull def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight: Michael Johnson def. Daniel Zellhuber via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Prelims
Bantamweight: Vinicius Oliveira def. Kyler Phillips via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Brendan Allen def. Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Welterweight: Nikolay Veretinnikov def. Francisco Prado via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Ateba Gautier def. Robert Valentin via TKO (punches) at 1:08 of R1
Early prelims
Welterweight: Islam Dulatov def. Adam Fugitt via TKO (punches) at 4:06 of R1
Light heavyweight: Jimmy Crute def. Marcin Prachnio via submission (armbar) at 4:42 of R1
Heavyweight: Ryan Spann def. Lukasz Brzeski via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:27 of R1
Middleweight: Brunno Ferreira def. Jackson McVey via submission (armbar) at 3:35 of R1
Women's flyweight: Carli Judice def. Nicolle Caliari via TKO (knee and punches) at 1:30 of R3