UFC 302 officially gets Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier, Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa
UFC 302 now has an official main and co-main event.
The June 1 pay-per-view event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., will feature one championship bout but two five-round fights.
UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday after UFC 300 that lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his title against Dustin Poirier. Additionally, former middleweight champion Sean Strickland takes on Paulo Costa in a five-round co-main event.
Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) seeks his third successful title defense and his first against someone not named Alexander Volkanovski. Makhachev rides a 13-fight winning streak into the fight.
Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) will get a rare third shot at UFC title gold after two unsuccessful attempts. Poirier’s first title bid was made against Makhachev’s mentor and friend Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019. He challenged for the title in 2021 and lost to Charles Oliveira. Both defeats were submissions.
However, Poirier has always found ways to pick himself up after title losses and work his way back into the next-man-up position. He’s won two of his most recent three fights including a March knockout of Benoit Saint Denis.
Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) and Costa (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) have engaged in a war of words on social media in recent weeks, with both fighters indicating they were interested in the bout if the terms were right.
Now that agreements are in place according to the UFC, Strickland has a date and opponent to attempt a bounce-back after a January title loss to Dricus Du Plessis.
Costa is 1-3 in his most recent four outings. He most recently competed in a spirited three-round co-main event loss to Robert Whittaker.
With the additions, the UFC 302 lineup includes:
- Champion Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – for lightweight title
- Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa – five-round co-main event
- Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez
- Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov
- Joselyne Edwards vs. Ailin Perez
- Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez
- Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki
- Jake Matthews vs. Phil Rowe
- Andre Lima vs. Hyun Sung Park
- Niko Price vs. Jeremiah Wells
- Su Mudaerji vs. Joshua Van
- Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov