Matthew Lowrimore
UFC 318 takes place on Saturday at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. It features a UFC Lightweight fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier as the Main Event. Here are our UFC 318 best bets, which will include 2 fights on the Main Card. Be sure to also check out the rest of our UFC predictions for all of the UFC 318 Main Card fights scheduled for Saturday.
UFC 318 Main Card Best Bets
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing.
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Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier – Fight to go the Distance – No (+100)
The Main Event at UFC 318 will see Max Holloway take on Dustin Poirier. This will be a fight in the UFC Lightweight division. Holloway enters this fight with an MMA record of 26-8 and 22-8 in the UFC. As for Poirier, he enters this fight with an MMA record of 30-9 and 23-9 in the UFC.
Holloway is a moderate-sized favorite, but seeing that he has lost twice to Poirier previously, we will instead target this fight to end inside the distance. Poirier has seen his last 7 UFC fights end inside the distance, while Holloway has seen each of his last 3 UFC fights do the same. Given that both fighters have seen the majority of their recent fights end inside the distance, backing the same here will be our best bet.
You can also find out our UFC 318 parlay picks at +183 odds!
Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire – Fight to End by Unanimous Decision (-125)
The second fight on the Main Card at UFC 318 will see Dan Ige take on Patricio Freire. This will be a fight in the UFC Featherweight division. Ige enters this fight with an MMA record of 19-9 and 12-8 in the UFC. He averages 3.67 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 45%. Ige absorbs 3.55 strikes and has a striking defense of 56%. His grappling is decent, averaging 0.94 takedowns every 15 minutes. He has a takedown accuracy of 25% and a takedown defense of 58%.
Freire enters this fight with an MMA record of 36-8 and 0-1 in the UFC. He averages 2.45 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 40%. Freire absorbs 4.48 strikes and has a striking defense of 57%. He also has decent grappling ability, averaging 0.69 takedowns every 15 minutes. Freire has a takedown accuracy of 20% and a takedown defense of 88%.
Ige is the heavy favorite; therefore, we will be looking for this fight to end by unanimous decision. Freire saw his only UFC end by unanimous decision, while Ige has seen 4 of his last 6 UFC fights end by this method. One of these fighters will likely dominate this fight; therefore, backing this fight to end by unanimous decision will be our best bet.
Check out the rest of our UFC picks for every main card fight at UFC 318!
