It was UFC 143 when Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier first met in the Octagon. ‘The Diamond’ secured the win via a triangle armbar in the first round and won the Performance of the Night bonus. And while ‘Blessed’ went into their second bout at UFC 236, hoping for a new outcome, Poirier won once again. This time, it was via a unanimous decision, and he also claimed the interim lightweight title. But was there another fight that overshadowed Holloway versus Poirier?

Well, if you’d ask Max Holloway, he would say yes! Sure, Poirier vs. Holloway 2 was thrilling. Combined, both fighters landed 359 significant strikes, but perhaps, the co-main event took away a bit too much attention. And ahead of his upcoming UFC 318 trilogy fight with Poirier, the 33-year-old had a chat with Brett Okamoto from ESPN, where he opened up about it.

First, speaking about his upcoming fight against Poirier, he said: “Yeah, for sure. I mean, he’s a dog, man. And that’s why I love him, you know? That’s why I love this challenge, him as an opponent. And that’s why you guys need to tune in, Saturday night, because this fight is going to be one for the record books. I know we should have won Fight of the Night that night, but our luck, f—— Kelvin and Israel was there. You know what I mean? So, that’s why they took that s—. But our fight was pretty damn fun, too.”

In the co-main event for UFC 236, Israel Adesanya defeated Kelvin Gastelum and won the interim middleweight championship belt. This was one of the most thrilling fights in the UFC as both fighters had dominant moments in the bout, but Adesanya edged out Gastelum with a relentless fifth-round assault. Despite Gastelum’s grit and early knockdowns, Adesanya’s striking submission attempts and final-round knockdowns secured his rise to the top in a career-defining performance.

Even Dana White claimed that it was “one of the best fights I’ve ever seen.” White awarded Adesanya and Gastelum with $50K Fight of the Night bonus. But according to the records, Holloway and Poirier also received the Fight of the Night bonus worth $50K each, as opposed to UFC’s standard one Fight of the Night. So all four men received an extra $50,000 bonus.

But come UFC 318, the needle is tilting a bit more towards Max Holloway’s win. Let’s see what Michael Bisping and other MMA analysts had to say about the upcoming bout.

Michael Bisping raises Max Holloway prior to his bout against Dustin Poirier

Taking to his YouTube channel earlier this week, ‘The Count’ claimed, “All those advantages that he had are now turning into disadvantages. There’s more miles on the clock, he is a little bit older, the wear and tear starts to add up, and, of course, so do the losses.”

“Those become little chinks in the armor. You start to realize that you’re not invincible anymore, and maybe you’re not going to become the champion.”

Things are a bit different now. ‘The Diamond’ is 36 years old, while ‘Blessed’ is still in his prime at 33 years old. So, according to Bisping, Holloway will likely claim the victory at UFC 318. With the example of Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje, Bisping continued, “They’re both very good, they’re both very technical. Look at the last fight that Max Holloway had against Justin Gaethje… He went out there, beat him toe-to-toe, and then knocked him out cold… At 155, I think it is a different version.”

But whoever wins, the fight would be pretty interesting. Even the famed MMA journalist, Luke Thomas, believes that the UFC 318 main event would be a banger. He pointed out that Holloway’s skill set is much better now that he’s in the lightweight division. On the other hand, he focused on Poirier’s resilience. “Dustin has refused to go away quietly,” he announced. Thomas reflected on his battle with Islam Makhachev, where Poirier gave the Dagestani star a pretty tough competition. In the end, Thomas feels that UFC 318 would be the most competitive and the most interesting fight in the trilogy. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.