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Indianapolis Star
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
UFC 318 fight card odds, predictions tonight: Can Dustin Poirier take Max Holloway's 'BMF' title?
UFC 318 will see Max Holloway put his "BMF" title on the line against Dustin Poirier in a lightweight bout Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Will Poirier retire a winner? Or will Holloway get the elusive victory? Here's your guide to UFC 318 fight card, schedule, odds, predictions and how to watch. Live coverage of UFC 318 early preliminary card kicks off at 6 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 19. Prelims continue at 8 p.m. ET followed by the main card pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET. Watch UFC 318 preliminary fights on ESPN+ Here is the UFC 318 fight card schedule with approximate fight times for July 19, 2025. All times are Eastern: The BMF belt stands for "Baddest Motherf*****" and is currently held by Max Holloway. The belt created in 2019 is not an actual title. The symbolic belt represents the UFC's most ferocious fighters. Yes. This is the third fight between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway. Dustin Poirier defeated Max Holloway by submission with a triangle armbar at 3:23 in the first round in UFC 143. The fight was Holloway's UFC debut in February of 2012, where he was a late replacement for Ricardo Lamas, who was slated to replace Erik Koch. Dustin Poirier vs Max Holloway 2 took place at UFC 236 in April of 2019. Poirier won by unanimous decision. Here are UFC 318 fight card odds via BetMGM: UFC 318 streaming options include ESPN+ and pay-per-view. Preliminary card fights on ESPN+ begin at 6 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 19, 2025. The main PPV fight card is at 10 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 19, 2025. Details below: Catch UFC 318 preliminary fights on ESPN+
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Scottie Pippen says there is no such thing as the GOAT: "I saw a two-time, should have been three-time MVP, not even get picked by his peers"
The discourse around basketball greatness has always rested on shaky ground. It's built on moments, championship rings, and breathless comparisons that span eras too distinct to measure by a single scale. But Scottie Pippen shattered the entire premise of that conversation. The six-time NBA champion tore into the idea that basketball can crown a singular "greatest of all time." In his eyes, there's no throne, only a round table where greatness is layered, argued, and, more importantly, earned in different ways. No greatest player Pippen's words carry weight not just because he once played alongside the man often hailed as the GOAT but because his career was shaped inside the shadows of those debates. But from the lens of someone who's watched the league evolve and witnessed its biases firsthand, it doesn't sit right to make someone the greatest. "There is not a greatest player," Pippen said. "I'm gonna put myself in there if you're gonna call out a greatest player. What makes Michael Jordan great? Because he had the media-gained MVPs. "[Nikola] Jokic is great and they didn't even put him on the Motherf—ing team. I don't understand what people say make other people great because I saw a f—ing two-time, should have been three-time MVP, not even get picked by his peers." Pippen has long challenged the narrative that Jordan's singular impact was enough to make him the undisputed GOAT And now, using Nikola Jokic, the Serbian center whose efficiency numbers and offensive IQ have revolutionized the modern big man, as a case in point, Pippen laid bare the often hypocritical way greatness is measured. Jokic, a three-time MVP and centerpiece of the Denver Nuggets' first-ever NBA championship in 2023, has often been left out of popular debates on the all-time great despite having the highest Player Efficiency Ratings in NBA history. He was omitted from the All-NBA First Team that same year he won the championship despite leading his team to dominance. It mirrored the very system that elevated media narratives, market size, and public sentiment. Pippen's tone was less about bitterness and more about recalibrating how the game tells its stories. The fact that a player can dominate the stat sheet, lead a franchise with unflashy brilliance, and still be snubbed by peers and pundits says everything about how flawed the GOAT debate has become. Pippen's views The NBA has long had a number of players who can be tagged as the greatest. But according to Pippen, it depends on how one views it. "So, I don't want to hear about a great f—ing player unless he's winning," Pippen said. "LeBron James is probably one of the greatest winners that ever played the game. He wins. He ain't won that many championships, but he's been in the finals… does that make him the greatest player ever to play the game? No." Pippen drew a brutal but fair line between impact and idolization. He acknowledged LeBron James' sustained excellence — he has reached 10 NBA Finals, a feat only matched by a handful of players in league history — but also challenged the lazy equating of longevity with greatness. Winning, according to Pippen, must come with context. Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion, whose defensive dominance and leadership once defined an era. Yet many modern fans skip over Russell in G.O.A.T. debates, often because his stats don't match up with today's offensive metrics or because few of them watched him live. Even Julius Erving, whose elegance and aerial grace laid the blueprint for today's high-flying forwards, rarely comes up in these conversations despite ushering in an entire style of play. Pippen's list of greats included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the league's former all-time leading scorer for nearly 40 years and a player who won six championships and six MVP awards. Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook was nearly unguardable, and his consistency over two decades shaped generations. Still, his reserved personality and measured public presence meant he never became the face of flash like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.
