UFC 302 card: Makhachev vs Poirier and all fights this weekend

Pound-for-pound No 1 Islam Makhachev defends the lightweight title against fan favourite Dustin Poirier

Alex Pattle
Combat Sports Correspondent
Thursday 30 May 2024 09:36
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This weekend, Dustin Poirier will fight for the lightweight title for the third and surely final time, challenging Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302.

Poirier, a veteran and fan favourite, held the interim belt in 2019 but was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov while trying to unify the gold. Two years later, Poirier suffered the same result against Charles Oliveira, and the American faces a similar threat on Saturday – in what may be his last fight, he has hinted.

Poirier will challenge Khabib’s protege Makhachev, who won the lightweight title in 2022 and has emerged as the UFC’s pound-for-pound No 1 fighter. After submitting Oliveira to win the belt, the Russian retained it twice in 2023 against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski – once on points, once by knockout.

In the five-round co-main event, Sean Strickland aims to bounce back from his middleweight title loss in January, facing former No 1 contender Paulo Costa.

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When is the event?

UFC 302 will take place on Saturday 1 June at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

The early prelims are due to begin at 11.15pm BST (3.15pm PT / 5.15pm CT / 6.15pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 1am BST on Sunday 2 June (5pm PT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET on Saturday). The main card is then due at 3am BST on Sunday (7pm PT / 9pm CT / 10pm ET on Saturday).

How can I watch it?

The card will air live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. Discovery+ will also air the action in the UK. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the event live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider.

Odds

Islam Makhachev is the UFC’s lightweight champion and pound-for-pound No 1
Islam Makhachev is the UFC’s lightweight champion and pound-for-pound No 1 (AFP via Getty Images)

Makhachev – 2/11; Poirier – 4/1

Strickland – 4/9; Costa – 7/4

Via Betway. Get all the latest UFC betting sites’ offers.

Full card (subject to change)

Main card

Islam Makhachev (C) vs Dustin Poirier (lightweight title)

Sean Strickland vs Paulo Costa (middleweight – five rounds)

Kevin Holland vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (middleweight)

Jailton Almeida vs Alexandr Romanov (heavyweight)

Randy Brown vs Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (welterweight)

Sean Strickland (right) lost the middleweight belt to Dricus Du Plessis in January
Sean Strickland (right) lost the middleweight belt to Dricus Du Plessis in January (Getty Images)

Prelims

Cesar Almeida vs Roman Kopylov (middleweight)

Grant Dawson vs Joe Solecki (lightweight)

Phil Rowe vs Jake Matthews (middleweight)

Niko Price vs Alex Morono (welterweight)

Prelims

Mickey Gall vs Bassil Hafez (welterweight)

Ailin Perez vs Joselyne Edwards (women’s bantamweight)

Nyamjargal Tumendemberel vs Andre Lima (flyweight)

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