UFC 218
| Company type | Event |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts |
| Founded | December 2, 2017 |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan , United States |
Area served | Metro Detroit region |
UFC 218: Holloway vs. Aldo 2 was a mixed martial arts spectacle organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, taking place on December 2, 2017, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Background
This event represented the UFC's comeback to the Metro Detroit region and was the inaugural UFC event hosted at the newly constructed Little Caesars Arena.
Initially, the headline fight was planned to be a UFC Featherweight Championship clash featuring the reigning champion Max Holloway against former lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar. However, Edgar withdrew due to injury on November 11, prompting the promotion to substitute him with former two-time featherweight champion José Aldo, who had been scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas in a rematch of their 2014 title defense encounter. Holloway and Aldo had previously contended at UFC 212, where Holloway secured the featherweight championship.
The event's co-headliner was a heavyweight title eliminator bout between ex-K-1 Grand Prix winner Alistair Overeem and emerging contender Francis Ngannou. The victor was set to challenge the reigning heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, who had previously knocked out Overeem during their 2016 matchup at UFC 203.
A flyweight contest between 2008 Olympic wrestling gold medalist and former title challenger Henry Cejudo and Sergio Pettis was rescheduled for this card after Cejudo pulled out from UFC 211 due to injury. Despite sustaining minor burn injuries during evacuation efforts amid the Tubbs Fire in October, Cejudo's team confirmed that the fight would continue as planned.
Al Iaquinta was originally slated to face Paul Felder, but withdrew on October 31 due to injury. Felder remained on the lineup and instead competed against Charles Oliveira.
Bonus awards
The following fighters were granted $50,000 bonuses:
- Fight of the Night: Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje and Yancy Medeiros vs. Alex Oliveira
- Performance of the Night: No bonuses were awarded