UFC 318 LIVE – Max Holloway looks to spoil Dustin Poirier last dance as duo wrap up epic trilogy in New Orleans

Daniel Ige (19-9) takes on Patricio Pitbull (36-8) in a featherweight contest next.

Another upset this evening.

A disappointing contest and hard not to come to the conclusion Johnson will take the victory. He skillfully avoided most of Zellhuber’s kicks and had the better of the striking.

A huge left hand from Johnson wakes up the crowd and sends Zellhuber down to the mat. Johnson follows him down with follow-up blows but his opponent gets back to his feet. Certainly Johnson’s round though.

A slow opener, stunted by a low blow each. Johnson maybe had the slight edge but hard to call.

Michael Johnson (24-19) takes on Daniel Zellhuber (15-2) in the first fight on the main card.

He takes the contest 29-28 on all three cards. And that is the end of the prelims.

Phillips lands clean shots but they don’t have the same effect as Oliveira’s who also adds a plethora of kicks. He adds shots to the body to slow Phillips down and lands the bigger blows late on, forcing the American to the mat briefly before the final buzzer.

Oliveira has the better of this one. Landing big shots early, with a one-two sending Phillips down to the mat and Oliveira controlled much of the round thereafter. We have to be level going into the last but the momentum is all with Oliveira.

Phillips landed repeaed brutal right hands early in the round. Oliveira lands a few good kicks but the striking is dominated by the American. Oliveira shows a good chin to stay on his feet and has some success before the buzzer with his flashy kicks.

Kyler Phillips (12-3) takes on Vinicius Oliveira (22-3).

He takes the fight 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.

Allen stalks Vettori for most of the round but it looks like the Italian gets the better of the striking contest which saw them both abandon defence late on before Allen got a brief takedown. Then Allen lands a good kick and follows up with a right which rocks Vettori. Who would be a judge here?

Another tough one to call with both having their moments striking. The state of Vettori’s face makes it look like Allen is having the better of things but Vettori is probably landing cleaner.

Big start for Allen hurting Vettori with strikes then taking him down and landing brutal tomahawk shots busting the nose and opening a cut over the eye of his opponent. Vettori reversed positions on the ground and landed his fair share of shots, including elbows in close. He also got the better of the stand up at the end of the round.

Martin Vettori (19-8-1) takes on Brendon Allen (24-7). If the weigh in is anything to go by this could be all-out action.

Well, well, well…He takes the fight on a split decision, winning 29-28 on two cards. with Prado winning the other by the same score.

Prado takes advantage of errors from his opponent to take him down to the mat where he controlled most of the round and landed a number of blows which should see him win the fight.

The crowd booed but Prado had control on the mat for a couple of rounds and then landed strong combinations when back on their feet which might see the fight level going into the third.

The Ukrainian takes the opener. His dominance emphasised by a slam which saw Prado thrown dropped from his waist and worryingly hit his head on the mat.

Francisco Prado (12-3) meets Nikolay Veretennikov (12-6).

The Cameroon phenom shows why he is one of the most dangerous fighters in all the UFC. He hurt Valentin early with a right hand and then stalked his opponent, landing with precise strikes and uppercuts, before a right put Valentin down. After three follow-up shots with his opponent sitting down, the referee had seen enough.

“The only way to survive against me is to run,” Gautier says. He may be right.

Ateba Gautier (7-1) is coming off a brutal KO which earned him a fight bonus last time out and shortly will face Robert Valentin (11-5).

And we start with a package celebrating ‘Paid in Full’ before we head into the prelims.

Our live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+ begins at the top of the hour, showing the prelims and all bouts up to and including this historic main event.

Thank you for joining us for TNT Sports’ live updates of UFC 318 as Dustin Poirier draws the curtain down on his career against Max Holloway in his home city of New Orleans.

Holloway and Poirier go toe-to-toe for the third and final time at the Smoothie King Center, with the latter having won their two previous encounters.

Poirier, a former interim lightweight champion, has won 21 of his 31 UFC bouts, and widely considered among the best fighters to have never won an undisputed title.

Meanwhile, the fight represents a new beginning for Holloway, who opted to move up to the lightweight division after defeat in October by Ilia Topuria.

How to watch UFC 318 on TNT Sports and discovery+

• Max Holloway v Dustin Poirier – Lightweight bout
• Paulo Costa v Roman Kopylov – Middleweight bout
• Kevin Holland v Daniel Rodriguez – Welterweight bout
• Dan Ige v Patricio Pitbull – Featherweight bout
• Michael Johnson v Daniel Zellhuber – Lightweight bout

Poirier, a former interim lightweight champion, has won 21 of his 31 UFC bouts, and widely considered among the best fighters to have never won an undisputed title.

Meanwhile, the fight represents a new begining for Holloway, who opted to move up to the lightwight division after defeat in October by Ilia Topuria.