Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya wouldn’t be surprised to see a knockout in the UFC 318 main event.
BMF titleholder Max Holloway will serve as Dustin Poirier‘s final UFC opponent as they settle their trilogy bout in the UFC 318 main event this weekend. It’ll be Poirier’s self-described ‘last ride’ after a legendary career that includes wins over a slew of MMA legends.
UFC 318 also will mark Holloway’s return to the lightweight division after a knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 308. He opted to make the full-time move to lightweight following the fight, hinting at many intriguing matchups for him in the division.
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Israel Adesanya sides with Max Holloway at UFC 318, predicts possible KO
In Holloway’s most-recent lightweight appearance, he earned one of the most shocking knockouts in UFC history when he slept Justin Gaethje at the buzzer at UFC 300 last year. But the last time he faced off with Poirier, Holloway struggled to deal with Poirier’s size and boxing en route to a unanimous decision defeat at UFC 236.
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya knows a thing or two about how to approach rematches, as Holloway looks to send Poirier off into the sunset with a loss. Despite Poirier being up 2-0 in their series, Adesanya believes Holloway could earn another highlight-reel KO in their trilogy.
In a recent breakdown on his YouTube channel, Adesanya shared his prediction for the UFC 318 headliner.
“Dustin tends to when he gets tired, he reverts back to his old habits, which is flat-footedness,” Adesanya said of Holloway vs. Poirier.
“He throws without setting things up, sometimes. But he’s changed that. But again when he gets tired, Max doesn’t really get tired. Dustin was able to outwork him in that second fight when they fought for the belt, Dustin hurt Max…first time I’ve seen Max rocked.
“But Max is trying to spoil the party with the Blessed Express. I’m going with Max in this fight,” Adesanya continued. “I think Max will be more defensively sound, he’s not going to get gun shy. But he’ll be smarter now with the weight, because Max has taken a lot of shots and the chin only holds up for so long. Lightweight Max, I still think can knock out Dustin Poirier, and this time could be different.”
Poirier opted to make UFC 318 his retirement fight after a loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 last year. Despite speculation he could change his mind on retirement after UFC 318, Poirier seems intent on making this storybook ending final.
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Max Holloway’s former rival picked him to beat Dustin Poirier at UFC 318
One of Holloway’s former rivals, Alexander Volkanovski, sided with him to get the trilogy win at UFC 318. Volkanovski and Holloway fought three times in their UFC careers with Volkanovski winning all three fights.
After dropping the Volkanovski trilogy, Holloway is looking to get his revenge against Poirier this weekend and make a strong case for a lightweight title shot. A win could potentially set up Holloway for a rematch with Topuria, after the latter’s vacant title win last month at UFC 317.
We’re hours away from finding out if Holloway will get his revenge against Poirier, or if Poirier will end his historic career on one of the highest notes.