UFC: Who's fighting and who's going to win?

🥊 UFC 318 – Holloway vs. Poirier 3

• Date: Saturday, July 19, 2025

• Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

• Times: Prelims start at 6 p.m. ET; Main card at 10 p.m. ET The Sun+12MMAmania.com+12MMAmania.com+12CBSSports.com+3MMAmania.com+3MMAmania.com+3MMAmania.com

• Main Event: Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier (retirement fight/BMF Title)
  Prediction: Holloway by decision (favored) ESPN.com+7Diario AS+7Sportsnet.ca+7

• Co‑Main: Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov – pick: majority draw decision; not expected to go the distance The Sun+6Diario AS+6MMAmania.com+6

• Other Notables:

  • Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez – Rodriguez decision Wikipedia+15MMAmania.com+15New York Post+15

  • Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull

  • Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber – Johnson upset on underdog MMA Fighting+15MMAmania.com+15Diario AS+15

  • Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen

  • Jimmy Crute (KO predicted) MMA Fighting+13MMAmania.com+13New York Post+13

🏆 UFC 317 – Topuria vs. Oliveira

• Date: Saturday, June 28, 2025

• Location: T‑Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

• Times: Early prelims 6:30 p.m. ET; Late prelims 8 p.m.; Main Card 10 p.m. ET Diario AS+14MMAmania.com+14UFC+14

• Main Event: Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira (vacant Lightweight title)
  Prediction: Topuria by late KO – riding momentum as champion ESPN.com+12MMAmania.com+12Talksport+12

• Main Card Highlights:

  • Flyweight title: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara‑France

  • Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano

  • Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van

  • Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima
    (Plus several prelim matchups including Hermansson, McVey, etc.) MMA Fighting+13MMAmania.com+13MMAmania.com+13

🔥 UFC 316 – Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley

• Date: Saturday, June 7, 2025

• Location: Newark, NJ

• Times: Prelims 6:30 p.m.; PPV 10 p.m. ET MMAmania.com

• Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili (champion) vs. Sean O’Malley
  Prediction: Dvalishvili wins by decision, ties UFC win‑streak record MMAmania.com+1New York Post+1

🗓️ UFC 319 – du Plessis vs. Chimaev (announced)

• Date: Saturday, August 16, 2025

• Location: Chicago, IL

• Main Event: Dricus du Plessis (middleweight champ) vs. Khamzat Chimaev
  Prediction: du Plessis retains via second-round TKO; Chimaev tested but ranges fall short Talksport+2CBSSports.com+2Talksport+2Talksport+1Wikipedia+1

🥋 Other 2025 UFC Events (Confirmed/Forthcoming)

• July 26: Fight Night – Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder (Middleweight, Abu Dhabi) New York Post+9CBSSports.com+9MMA Fighting+9

• Aug 2: Fight Night – Amir Albazi vs. Tatsuro Taira (Flyweight, Las Vegas) ESPN.com+2CBSSports.com+2Wikipedia+2

• Aug 9: Fight Night – Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez (Middleweight, Las Vegas) CBSSports.com

• Aug 23: Fight Night – Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang (LHW, Shanghai) CBSSports.com
  ...plus additional global Fight Nights (London, Canada, etc.) Talksport

📊 Summary Table

🎯 Predictions & Insights

• Champ vs. Challenger Matchups: Topuria, du Plessis, Dvalishvili are expected to dominate via decisively strong defenses.

• Retirement Fights: Holloway–Poirier goes the full 5; emotional but clear.

• Underdog Upsets: Expect Michael Johnson and Jimmy Crute to pull off surprise finishes at UFC 318.

• Global Expansion: Watch for Fight Nights across Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, London—mostly safe decision bets with occasional finishes.

✅ Final Thoughts

2025's UFC calendar mixes championship showdowns, emotional send-offs, and global events. My main predictions:

• Dvalishvili ties the record by beating O’Malley.

• Topuria secures the lightweight title in Vegas.

• Holloway wins Poirier’s farewell trilogy.

• du Plessis stops Chimaev in Chicago.