UFC 318 loses major fight as fans continue to criticize ‘worst PPV in recent history’

UFC 318 just lost one of its biggest fights. It’s the latest blow to a fight card MMA fans were already criticizing for its low quality.

UFC 318 goes down on July 19 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The card will be topped by a lightweight clash between Louisiana’s own Dustin Poirier, and Hawaii’s Max Holloway. It will mark the final fight of Poirier’s illustrious career — hence the setting in his home state.

While there is no question the main event is top quality, the rest of the card is getting trashed by fans on social media.

Two weeks from now may be the worst PPV in recent UFC history.

This card is an embarrassment to the organization and the fans deserve better.

Find out what went wrong at #UFC318 https://t.co/zkC1UXWHCe

— Evan Theoharis (@EvanTheoharis6) July 4, 2025

“Two weeks from now may be the worst PPV in recent UFC history,” one fan wrote on X. “This card is an embarrassment to the organization and the fans deserve better.”

Unfortunately, the card just got a little bit worse.

UFC 318 loses Nelson vs. Magny

According X user Octagon Update, an undercard welterweight fight between Gunnar Nelson and Neil Magny is off after the former sustained an injury in training.

🚨 per sources

Gunnar Nelson is OUT of his fight with Neil Magny for #UFC318 on July 19th.

Unsure if Neil stays on the card or not.

— Octagon Update (@octagonupdate) July 4, 2025

Nelson later confirmed the report himself.

“I won’t get into any crazy details about the injury but I’ll tell you it’s a two-part injury,” Nelson said on Instagram (via MMA Mania). “So there is a tear in one of the muscles in the hamstring, which is a Grade 2b injury. It’s not too bad, so it’s possibly something that we could have worked with. However, the second injury is on the tendon inside the muscle, which is a full thickness tear, so a Grade 4c injury and that’s a more serious one.

“Basically, I’m absolutely useless when it comes to any type of grappling scenarios,” the UFC welterweight added. “I’m not able to wrestle or grapple or kick and apparently it will be another eight weeks at least until I can comfortably have any type of grappling training at full speed. At least eight weeks. The good news is, I won’t have to do surgery so I’ll hopefully be good to go at the end of the year or late this year, so that’s my plan.”

While the Magny vs. Nelson fight wouldn’t be a huge loss on a bigger UFC card, there’s no question it’s a blow to the New Orleans lineup. Magny is the most experienced fighter on the card, with 34 fights in the Octagon. That’s even more than the headliners Poirier (31) and Holloway (30). Nelson has been at the top of the sport for ages too, with 16 UFC bouts to his credit.

No word yet on whether Magny will get a new opponent. Assuming he doesn’t, here’s how the card looks now.

Updated New Orleans fight card

Main Card

Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier
Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull
Ateba Gautier vs. Robert Valentin
Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov
Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber

Prelims

Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen
Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Kyler Phillips vs. Vinicius Oliveira
Brunno Ferreira vs. TBA
Neil Magny vs. Gunnar Nelson
Jimmy Crute vs. Marcin Prachnio
Adam Fugitt vs. Islam Dulatov
arli Judice vs. Nicolle Caliari
Francisco Prado vs. Nikolay Veretennikov

Unsurprisingly, fans are not taking this development well.

“You know a card is shit when potentially losing Neil Magny is devastating,” one fan wrote on X.

“318 could not afford this,” another fan wrote on the platform.

What are your thoughts on the UFC 318 lineup?