Conor McGregor see Dustin Poirier Catching Islam Makhachev at the UFC 302.
Lightweight champion Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) will look to earn his third consecutive title defense when he faces Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in the June 1 headliner at the Prudential Center in Newark , NJ (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Poirier have fought three times before, with McGregor winning their first meeting by TKO in September 2014, Poirier avenging the loss with a knockout in their rematch in January 2021, and the The trilogy fight ended in a TKO via medical stoppage after McGregor broke his leg at the end of the first round in July 2021.
by Makhachev the only loss in his career came by knockout at the hands of Adriano Martins in just his second Octagon appearance at UFC 192 in October 2015, and McGregor predicts a similar fate for himself against “The Diamond.”
“I think Dustin knocks him out,” McGregor said in a live stream with Duelbits (h/t Championship rounds in X). “I think the things Makhachev does wrong, the things he’s not good at, he usually fumbles at the beginning and falls into shots. He was knocked out by a hook to the back from a southpaw before entering the UFC and this is one of Dustin’s best moves. If Dustin does it, it will be this time.
“Obviously, Dustin does bad things too, which feeds into Makhachev’s strengths. So it’s going to be a good fight to see who shows up, but it’s all up for grabs. There is no clear favorite on this. If you look at Dustin’s last fight, he was being mistreated by Benoit Saint Denis and he remained firm, then he got up, stood firm and landed a kick. It’s a great experience to get into this fight. If there’s ever a chance for him to do it, this is it.”
Up 2-1 in his series with McGregor, Poirier ruled out a fourth fight with “The Notorious.” Makhachev, on the other hand, thinks it would be silly if he didn’t fight McGregor.
McGregor, who returns in a welterweight bout against Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 303, June 29, in Las Vegas (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), says he has no horse in the race because both fights interest him.
“Who do I want, who would I like to see (win)? You know, or,” McGregor said. “I have a history with both and we’ll see what happens.”
For more information on the cards, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 302.
