It will be a clash of styles when Islam Makhachev defends his UFC lightweight title against a dangerous opponent, Dustin Poirier, at UFC 302.
Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira in 2022 to win the UFC lightweight title. The 32-year-old is 14-1 with the UFC, with eleven submission wins and a thirteen-fight winning streak. His last two fights have been successful title defenses against former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Poirier is 2-2 in his last four fights and has 15 wins by knockout. He also has eight submission wins, and his last fight to go the distance was in 2020.
“El Diamante” is competing for the UFC lightweight title for the third time, looking to finally have the gold. Poirier has tried to win fights by guillotine, which may be ill-advised against someone like Makhachev. However, he is ready to adapt against the Russian and finally secure that elusive submission victory.
“I’m going to knock him unconscious and the referee is going to get me out of him,” Poirier said. Yahoo! Sports through MMA fighting. “Don’t give up your position. That is the repeated record. Don’t try it even if you think it’s getting tight or if it feels good, don’t leave the position. Especially for a guy like Islam.
“If you leave the position, you may be trying to get back on your feet for the rest of the round and lose the round, or get into deeper water and be in a worse, more dangerous position. So I have to play and feel how I feel there, see how I feel there, in those positions. But I’ll probably skip it.”
Here’s how to watch UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier and how much it will cost him on PPV.
UFC 302: PPV price Makhachev vs. Poirier
- US: ESPN+ ($79.99 PPV rate plus $10.99/month membership)
- UNITED KINGDOM: TNT Sports (￡3.99/month or ￡39.99/year through Discovery+)
- Canada: DAZN ($69.99)
- Watch from anywhere via NordVPN (30 days money back guarantee)
UFC 302 is available on ESPN+ and ESPN+ PPV in the US, TNT Sports in the UK and DAZN in Canada.
In the US, the UFC 302 main card is available on pay-per-view on ESPN+, which also requires a subscription. The PPV price for UFC 302 is $79.99 for current subscribers. New subscribers can pay a bundle price of $134.98 for the UFC 302 pay-per-view and an annual subscription to ESPN+, which offers savings of more than 30 percent.
UFC 302 start time
- Date: Saturday 1 June
- Time: 10 pm ET (8 pm ET for prelims) | 3:00am BST (Sunday) | 12:00 pm AEST (Sunday)
- Location: Prudential Center – Newark, New Jersey
The first prelims for UFC 302 begin at 6 p.m. ET, and the prelims at 8 p.m. ET. The main card airs at 10 pm ET. Makhachev and Poirier should arrive at the octagon around 12:15 a.m. ET, depending on how long the preliminary fights last.
UFC 302 fight card, odds
Principal card
- Islam Makhachev (c) (-500) vs. Dustin Poirier (+375) for the UFC lightweight title
- Sean Strickland (-225) against Paulo Costa (+180); Middle weights
- Kevin Holland (-250) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (+200); Middle weights
- Jailton Almeida (-250) against Alexander Romanov (+200); heavy weights
- Randy Brown (-185) vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (+250); welterweights
Preliminaries
- Roman Kopylov (-140) vs. César Almeida (+115); Middle weights
- Grant Dawson (-350) vs. Joe Solecki (+270); Light weights
- Jake Matthews (-150) vs. Philip Rowe (+125); welterweights
- Alex Morono (-225) against Niko Price (+185); welterweights
First preliminaries
- Bassil Hafez (-300) against Mickey Gall (+240); welterweights
- Ailin Pérez (-200) vs. Joselyne Edwards (+165); Bantamweights
*betting odds courtesy of BetMGM
Upcoming UFC television schedule
| Date | Event | Location | how to watch |
| June 1, 2024 | UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier | Prudential Center, Newark, USA | ESPN+ |
| June 8, 2024 | Gunboat against Imavov | KFC How delicious! Downtown, Louisville, USA | ESPN+ |
| June 15, 2024 | Pérez against Taira | UFC APEX, Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
| June 22, 2024 | Whittaker vs. Chimaev | Kingdom Arena, Saudi Arabia | ESPN+ABC |
| June 29, 2024 | UFC 303: McGregor vs. Chandler | T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, USA | ESPN+ |
