UFC heads to New Jersey for UFC 302. Islam Makhachev defends the UFC lightweight title against multiple-time title contender Dustin Poirier from inside the Prudential Center.
The co-main event is a five-round middleweight fight between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa. Strickland (28-6) beat Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in an upset, but lost it in his next fight against Dricus du Plessis. Costa (14-3) lost to Adesnaya for the belt in 2020. Since then he is 1-2, with his last fight being a loss against Robert Whittaker in February.
Other fights on the card include Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez. Brown (18-5) is 12-5 in the UFC with seven wins by knockout and five by submission. dos Santos (24-7-1) is 10-3-1 in the Octagon and 2-1-1 in his last four fights. He hasn’t lost a contest since 2020.
Green Brook’s Gall is competing for the first time since 2022 and fighting in front of family and friends.
LOOK: UFC 302: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier, exclusively on ESPN+
Below is the complete UFC 302 card!
UFC 302 fight card, odds
- Islam Makhachev (c) (-500) vs. Dustin Poirier (+360) for the UFC lightweight title
- Sean Strickland (-210) against Paulo Costa (+175); Middle weights
- Randy Brown against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos; welterweights
- César Almeida against Roman Kopylov; Middle weights
Almeida (5-0) is a former kickboxing champion and won gold for WAKO, SUPERKOMBAT and WKN. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum has won four of his first five fights by knockout. Kopylov (12-3) is a five-time Combat Sambo champion. As recently as February, he snapped a four-fight winning streak. The Russian has eleven wins by knockout.
- Tatsuro Taira vs. Joshua Van; fly weights
- Niko Price vs. Alex Morono; welterweights
- Jailton Almeida against Alexander Romanov; heavy weights
Almeida (20-3) is ranked seventh in the UFC heavyweight rankings. The Brazilian was on a 15-game winning streak before losing to Curtis Blaydes in March. He wants to regain momentum in a stagnant pision. Romanov is ranked 13th and 6-2 in the octagon. He recently ended a two-fight losing streak and is as competent a fighter as Almeida, with nine submission wins.
- Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez; welterweights
- Philip Rowe vs. Jake Matthews; welterweights
- Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki; Light weights
- Ailin Pérez against Joselyne Edwards; Bantamweights
Perez (9-2) began competing at age 11 and is 2-1 in the UFC. The former Samurai Fight House bantamweight champion is riding a streak of two straight wins and four wins by knockout. Edwards (13-5) has fought for Ultimate Combat Challenge and LFA, winning gold for the former. He is 4-3 with the UFC and recently lost a three-game winning streak. The Panamanian has five wins by knockout.
*betting odds courtesy of BetMGM. Odds will be updated for the rest of the card when available.
UFC 302 Tuning Information
- Date: Saturday 1 June
- Location: Prudential Center – Newark, New Jersey
- Start time: 10 pm ET (8 pm ET for prelims) | 3:00am BST (Sunday) | 12:00 pm AEST (Sunday)
- how to watch: US: ESPN+ ($79.99 PPV rate plus $10.99/month membership) | UNITED KINGDOM: TNT Sports (£3.99/month or £39.99/year via Discovery+) | Canada: DAZN ($69.99)
- Watch from anywhere via NordVPN (30 days money back guarantee)
Upcoming UFC television schedule
| Date | Event | Location | how to watch |
| May 11, 2024 | Lewis v. Nascimento | Enterprise Center, St. Louis, USA | ESPN+ |
| May 19, 2024 | Barboza vs. Murphy | UFC APEX, Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
| June 1, 2024 | UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier |
Prudential Center, Newark, USA |
ESPN+ |
| June 8, 2024 | TBD vs. TBD | KFC How delicious! Downtown, Louisville, USA | ESPN+ |
| June 15, 2024 | TBD vs. TBD | UFC APEX, Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
| June 22, 2024 | Whittaker vs. Chimaev | Kingdom Arena, Saudi Arabia | ESPN+ABC |
