Latest news with #UFC318
USA Today
2 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 318 'Fight Motion': Max Holloway gives Dustin Poirier one final slugfest
The combat sports world moves quickly and UFC 318 while only a week-and-a-half ago seems like ancient history. But in putting one final bow on the event, the promotion released Monday the always-popular "Fight Motion" for the event. The video captured the big fights and key moments from the July 19 card at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans – in super slow motion. Atop the card was a "BMF" title fight between Max Holloway and the swan-songing Dustin Poirier. The two all-time-fan-favorites slugged it out over the course of five rounds. Additionally, Paulo Costa defeated Roman Kopylov in a three-round middleweight co-main event. Also, a chaotic bout between Daniel Rodriguez and Kevin Holland will be one fight fans remember for a long time. Check out "Fight Motion" in the video above to see some of the best moments from the card top-to-bottom. UFC 318 results included:
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month for July: Costello van Steenis stuns Johnny Eblen
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from July 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month award for July. At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice. Nominee: Movsar Ibragimov def. Gerardo Fanny at PFL Europe 2 Movsar Ibragimov kept his undefeated career record alive when he choked Gerardo Fanny with a rare technique in their PFL bantamweight showdown. Ibragimov (7-0) took advantage of Fanny failing to let go from bottom position and clamped on a Von Flue choke that, after a brief struggle, led to the tap. Nominee: Valter Walker def. Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC on ESPN 70 Valter Walker made history when he finished Kennedy Nzechukwu with his third consecutive heel hook finish. Walker's (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) now trademark move landed early again, because he managed to make Nzechukwu (14-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) tap just 54 seconds into Round 1 of the heavyweight bout. Nominee: Brunno Ferreira def. Jackson McVey at UFC 318 For all the UFC middleweights who thought they just had to worry about Brunno Ferreira in the standup game, the Brazilian may have made their prep work a little more difficult after taking out Jackson McVey. Ferreira (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) submitted short-notice replacement UFC newcomer McVey (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a nasty armbar at the 3:35 mark of the first round, showing diversity to his finishing attacks. Nominee: Jimmy Crute def. Marcin Prachnio at UFC 318 Jimmy Crute is back in the win column for the first time since 2020 – and he reentered in style against Marcin Prachnko. Crute (13-4-2 MMA, 5-4-2 UFC) submitted Marcin Prachnio (17-9 MMA, 4-7 UFC) with an armbar at the 4:32 mark of Round 1 in the light heavyweight bout. He had to struggle to get it, but eventually Prachnio could not fend off the technique and had to give up. The winner: Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Eblen at PFL Africa If he does nothing else, Costello van Steenis will always be remembered for his insane comeback against Johnny Eblen to claim the PFL middleweight title. Not only did he become PFL middleweight champion, van Steenis (17-3) did so in improbable fashion when he submitted Eblen (16-1) with nine seconds left in their five-round bout. The stoppage came at 4:51 of Round 5. Eblen had utilized his strong wrestling base and relentless pressure to largely dominate van Steenis the entire fight prior to his demise. Entering Round 5, Eblen was up 39-37 on two judges' scorecards with a third having the fight tied 38-38. Eblen got the fight down to the ground midway through Round 5 and took van Steenis' back. With approximately 45 seconds left on the clock, Eblen made a fatal mistake and fell off the top. Van Steenis slickly flipped the script, got Eblen's back, locked in a rear-naked choke, and put Eblen to sleep. Cast Your Vote! This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month, July 2025: Costello van Steenis
USA Today
16 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month for July: Costello van Steenis stuns Johnny Eblen
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from July 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month award for July. At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice. Nominee: Movsar Ibragimov def. Gerardo Fanny at PFL Europe 2 Movsar Ibragimov kept his undefeated career record alive when he choked Gerardo Fanny with a rare technique in their PFL bantamweight showdown. Ibragimov (7-0) took advantage of Fanny failing to let go from bottom position and clamped on a Von Flue choke that, after a brief struggle, led to the tap. Nominee: Valter Walker def. Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC on ESPN 70 Valter Walker made history when he finished Kennedy Nzechukwu with his third consecutive heel hook finish. Walker's (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) now trademark move landed early again, because he managed to make Nzechukwu (14-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) tap just 54 seconds into Round 1 of the heavyweight bout. Nominee: Brunno Ferreira def. Jackson McVey at UFC 318 For all the UFC middleweights who thought they just had to worry about Brunno Ferreira in the standup game, the Brazilian may have made their prep work a little more difficult after taking out Jackson McVey. Ferreira (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) submitted short-notice replacement UFC newcomer McVey (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a nasty armbar at the 3:35 mark of the first round, showing diversity to his finishing attacks. Nominee: Jimmy Crute def. Marcin Prachnio at UFC 318 Jimmy Crute is back in the win column for the first time since 2020 – and he reentered in style against Marcin Prachnko. Crute (13-4-2 MMA, 5-4-2 UFC) submitted Marcin Prachnio (17-9 MMA, 4-7 UFC) with an armbar at the 4:32 mark of Round 1 in the light heavyweight bout. He had to struggle to get it, but eventually Prachnio could not fend off the technique and had to give up. The winner: Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Eblen at PFL Africa If he does nothing else, Costello van Steenis will always be remembered for his insane comeback against Johnny Eblen to claim the PFL middleweight title. Not only did he become PFL middleweight champion, van Steenis (17-3) did so in improbable fashion when he submitted Eblen (16-1) with nine seconds left in their five-round bout. The stoppage came at 4:51 of Round 5. Eblen had utilized his strong wrestling base and relentless pressure to largely dominate van Steenis the entire fight prior to his demise. Entering Round 5, Eblen was up 39-37 on two judges' scorecards with a third having the fight tied 38-38. Eblen got the fight down to the ground midway through Round 5 and took van Steenis' back. With approximately 45 seconds left on the clock, Eblen made a fatal mistake and fell off the top. Van Steenis slickly flipped the script, got Eblen's back, locked in a rear-naked choke, and put Eblen to sleep. Cast Your Vote!
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Paulo Costa rips Reinier de Ridder's 'bad fight' at UFC on ABC 9, gets response
Paulo Costa didn't think much of Reinier de Ridder's performance against Robert Whittaker at UFC on ABC 9. De Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) kept his undefeated octagon run alive on Saturday when he edged Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) by split decision in Abu Dhabi. It was a closely contested bout and resulted in the biggest victory that former two-division ONE Championship titleholder has ever had, but Costa wasn't impressed. The one-time UFC title challenger Costa (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who is coming off a unanimous decision win over Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 this month, had only negative reviews about de Ridder on social media (via X): When asked about Costa's messages at the UFC on ABC 9 post-event news conference, de Ridder brushed off the criticism and pondered aloud what the outcome was when the Brazilian shared the octagon with Whittaker at UFC 298 in February 2024. "There's always a hater out there," de Ridder told MMA Junkie. "Did Paulo Costa never fight Whittaker? (He did). What happened?"
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, July 21: Two top five moves follow UFC, PFL events
Check out the latest rankings update following UFC 317 in Las Vegas. Two big events last week prompted changes in this week's rankings update. First, the PFL Champions Series Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, saw a shocking conclusion to its main event middleweight title fight. Johnny Eblen, the incoming champion, was up on the scorecards heading into the fifth round. However, Costello Van Steenis pulled off a last-second rear-naked choke to snatch the title away. Also on the card, Dakota Ditcheva turned in a dominant performance against Sumiko Inaba, bringing her into the top 5 in the women's flyweight division and No. 13 in the women's pound-for-pound rankings. Then, in New Orleans at UFC 318, Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway turned in a captivating trilogy bout for the BMF title. In what was Poirier's retirement fight, Holloway managed to earn the judges' decision after going the full 25 minutes. Holloway successfully defended the BMF title, and now that he's a full-time lightweight, settles in the No. 5 spot. Poirier, who hangs up the gloves, also gives up his spot in the rankings. Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.
