Defending his BMF belt for the first time. But who will “Blessed” be facing in New Orleans? Also Read: UFC Tonight – Get a look at the upcoming UFC schedule Max Holloway next fight opponent options?

UFC 318 goes down this Saturday night as David Bastl from Sports Interaction breaks down the odds and gives his pick for the main event between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier. This is their third and final clash with the lightweight title on the line in what will be Poirier’s retirement fight.

Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) defends his BMF title in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday's headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

'El Matador' is the new No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter after knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317. His last three wins contain two featherweight greats in Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, whom he knocked out in devastating fashion.

Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) defends his BMF title against the retiring Dustin Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 318 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main event at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) was knocked out for the first time in his career by Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in their featherweight title fight at UFC 308 last October. Both fighters have since moved up to lightweight, with Topuria capturing the vacant belt with a knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.

However, Holloway has fought at lightweight before, where he failed to win the interim title against Dustin Poirier in their rematch at UFC 236. Holloway is currently 0-5 against his UFC-level rivals Poirier and Alexander Volkanovski and looks to break this trend at UFC 318.