The 39-year-old veteran who knocked out Dustin Poirier

The 39-year-old Johnson joined Back-to-Back victories in UFC 318 and approached a potential return to the light top 15. In front of an opponent who faces 13 years younger than him, Johnson presented experience and speed against rising Star Daniel Zellhuber.

Michael Johnson achieved a big victory on Dustin Poirier's retirement card

Johnson opened the fight by laying Zellhuber on his back foot and exceeding the young star on his feet. Johnson showed a clear speed advantage over the 6'1 '' Zellhuber, who decided to pursue a Kick Haavy approach to counteract Johnson's progress.

In round 2, Johnson Zellhuber dropped to the jaw with a massive right hook, which almost ended his rival. But Zellhuber was able to cramp out of difficulties and to limit the damage, which it could do until the end of the round, in which many believed that it was a closely competitive struggle.

The left hand puts him down 😮‍💨

[ #UFC318 | @Menace155 ] pic.twitter.com/i164shgrmm

– UFC (@ufc) July 20, 2025

In round 3, Johnson sealed the deal with speed and pressure and controlled Zellhuber on the canvas after achieving a slick takedown. After three rounds of action, Johnson ran with an impressive decision win to hand over his second UFC defeat in a row.

Johnson's victory came only a few hours before his unique rival Dustin Poirier took his last walk to the Octagon in the UFC 318 headliner. Johnson brutally eliminated Poirier in September 2016 to get a showdown with the then contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.

As for Zellhuber, the loss against Johnson drops the talented Mexican brawler in his UFC Lightweight tenure to 3: 3. Zellhuber and Esteban Ribovics spoiled the fans with a candidate for the fight of the year at UFC 306.

Johnson received a pay-per-view show case at UFC 318 in December after a one-punch-KO in his most significant fight at UFC Tampa.

UFC 318 contained a controversial decision, wild Knockouts and Slick -Subs

The UFC 318 Undercard did not disappoint the long -awaited return of the campaign to New Orleans on Saturday.

The campaign started with a late knockout of the hero of the hometown Carli Judice in the first fight of the UFC 318 prelim. Atba Gautier and Brunno Ferreira earned wild surfaces to continue their diseases in the middleweight division.

A World Heritage weight between Nikolay Veretnikov and Francisco Prado was affected by a controversial result of many UFC fans. Veretnikov got the shared decision nod for his first advertising, although many believed that Prado deserved victory.

UFC 318 was led by a BMF title Matchup between Max Holloway and Johnson's former rival Poirier.