Poirier looks to capture an elusive UFC title against arguably the sport’s pound-for-pound king
• 1 min read
Dustin Poirier hopes the third time’s the charm in his pursuit of the UFC lightweight championship. Poirier looks to unseat current titleholder Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302 on June 1 in Newark, New Jersey.
UFC president Dana White announced Makhachev vs. Poirier during the UFC 300 post-fight press conference in April. The booking was a mild surprise considering Arman Tsarukyan and Max Holloway had better claims to a title shot after beating Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, respectively. Tsarukyan revealed he was offered the fight immediately after beating Oliveira but turned down a second short-notice fight against Makhachev. With the champ looking to fight in June, Tsarukyan’s refusal paved the way for Poirier.
“The Diamond” fights for the belt after a Round 2 knockout of Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. Poirier (30-8, 1 NC) looks to finally become champion after falling short against Khabib Nurmagmoedov, Makhachev’s mentor and coach, in 2019 and Oliveira in 2021. Makhachev (25-1) rides a 13-fight winning streak, making his third title defense after consecutive wins against former featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.
UFC 302’s co-main event will also be contested across a maximum of 25 minutes. Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland takes on heavy-handed action fighter Paulo Costa in a five-round, non-title bout. Strickland and Costa are set to fight for the first time since losing to middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis and former champ Robert Whittaker, respectively.
Below is the complete fight card for UFC 302 along with the latest odds. Check back all week long for the latest news, features and other content around this massive event.
UFC 302 fight card, odds
- Islam Makhachev -550 vs. Dustin Poirier +400, lightweight championship
- *Sean Strickland -220 vs. Paulo Costa +180, middleweights
- Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, welterweights
- Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov, middleweights
- Tatsuro Taira vs. Joshua Van, flyweights
- Hyunsung Park vs. Andre Lima, flyweights
- Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov, heavyweights
- Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez, middleweights
- Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez, welterweights
- Phil Rowe vs. Jake Matthews, welterweights
- Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki, lightweights
- Ailin Perez vs. Joselyne Edwards, women’s bantamweights
*Strickland vs. Costa is a five-round non-title co-main event.
UFC 302 info
- Date: June 1
- Location: Prudential Center — Newark, New Jersey
- Start time: 10 p.m. ET (Main card)
- How to watch: ESPN+ PPV
