Islam Makhachev defends his UFC lightweight title against Dustin Poirier on June 1 in the main event of UFC 302, which takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Makhachev (25-1) is MMA Fighting’s No. 1 ranked lightweight and No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The protege of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov and owner of a 13-fight octagon win streak, Makhachev will tie the all-time record for consecutive lightweight title defenses (3) with a win over Poirier. He previously captured the belt with submission over Charles Oliveira, then twice defended it against Alexander Volkanovski.
Poirier (30-8, 1 NC) is MMA Fighting’s No. 6 ranked lightweight in the world. A former interim champion and two-time challenger for the undisputed belt, Poirier is one of the most battle-tested lightweights of his era, holding wins over former champs Max Holloway (x2), Conor McGregor (x2), Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, and more. Poirier scored a second-round knockout of Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299 in his most recent bout.
Poirier has teased ahead of UFC 302 that this will be his final run toward the belt.
UFC 302 is co-headlined by a five-round, non-title middleweight matchup between former UFC champion Sean Strickland and one-time title challenger Paulo Costa.
The official UFC 302 fight card can be seen below.
Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier
Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa
Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov
Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski
Preliminary Card (ESPN 2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. PT)
Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. PT)
