Holloway Defends Title, Vettori and Allen Earn Bonuses at Record-Breaking UFC 318

This past Saturday, the UFC held its eighth pay-per-view event of the year, UFC 318, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The card featured several entertaining matchups between former champions and emerging prospects. In the main event, reigning BMF champion Max Holloway successfully defended his title against Dustin Poirier in their third meeting inside the octagon. Poirier's loss marked his final MMA appearance. In the co-main event, former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa faced off against Roman Kopylov. On the preliminary card, Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen put on a thrilling middleweight bout, with Allen securing a unanimous decision victory in front of his home crowd. Their intense performance earned them the Fight of the Night honors, and each fighter took home a $50,000 bonus. Additionally, Ateba Gautier, Islam Dulatov, and Carli Judice were awarded the Performance of the Night bonuses for their knockout wins over Robert Valentin, Adam Fugitt, and Nicolle Caliari, respectively. According to UFC President Dana White, the event attracted an attendance of 18,138 fans and generated a record-breaking gate of $8,088,122, the highest ever at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. With this victory, Max Holloway is now tied for the most UFC wins (23) with Donald Cerrone, Andrei Arlovski, and former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.