UFC 302 gets Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier, Strickland vs. Costa

UFC 302 now has an official important and co-main occasion.

The June 1 pay-per-view occasion at Prudential Middle in Newark, N.J., will characteristic one championship bout however two five-round fights.

UFC CEO Dana White introduced Saturday after UFC 300 that light-weight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his title in opposition to Dustin Poirier. Moreover, former middleweight champion Sean Strickland takes on Paulo Costa in a five-round co-main occasion.

Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) seeks his third profitable title protection and his first in opposition to somebody not named Alexander Volkanovski. Makhachev rides a 13-fight successful streak into the battle.

Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) will get a uncommon third shot at UFC title gold after two unsuccessful makes an attempt. Poirier’s first title bid was made in opposition to Makhachev’s mentor and friend Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019. He challenged for the title in 2021 and lost to Charles Oliveira. Each defeats had been submissions.

Nevertheless, Poirier has all the time discovered methods to select himself up after title losses and work his means again into the next-man-up place. He’s received two of his most up-to-date three fights together with 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 confrontation on social media in current weeks, with each fighters indicating they had been within the bout if the phrases had been proper.

Now that agreements are in place in accordance with the UFC, Strickland has a date and opponent to try a bounce-back after a January title loss to Dricus Du Plessis.

Costa is 1-3 in his most up-to-date 4 outings. He most not too long ago competed in a spirited three-round co-main event loss to Robert Whittaker.

With the additions, the UFC 302 lineup contains:

• Champion Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier – for light-weight title
• Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa – five-round co-main occasion
• 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 Value vs. Jeremiah Wells
• Su Mudaerji vs. Joshua Van
• Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov