Tonight, Dustin Poirier will fight for the lightweight title for the third and certainly last time, challenging Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 302.
Poirier, a veteran and fan favorite, 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 could be his last fight, he hinted.
Poirier will challenge Makhachev, Khabib’s protégé, who won the lightweight title in 2022 and emerged as the UFC’s number 1 pound-for-pound fighter. After submitting Oliveira to win the belt, the Russian retained it twice in 2023, against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski – once by points, once by knockout.
In tonight’s five-round co-main event, Sean Strickland aims to bounce back from January’s middleweight title loss by facing former No. 1 contender Paulo Costa.
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When is the event?
UFC 302 will take place on Saturday, June 1 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
The first preliminaries are due to begin at 11:15pm BST (3:15pm PT / 5:15pm CT / 6:15pm ET), with the regular preliminaries following at 1am BST on Sunday, June 2 (5pm PT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET on Saturday). The main card expires at 3am BST on Sunday (7pm PT / 9pm CT / 10pm ET Saturday).
How can I watch?
The card will be broadcast live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also broadcasting the fights. Discovery+ will also broadcast the action in the UK. In the US, ESPN+ will broadcast the event live, as will UFC Fight Pass.
If you are traveling abroad and want to watch the event, you may need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN roundup is here to help and includes offers on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to ensure they comply with all local regulations where they are, as well as the terms of their service provider.
Chances
Makhachev – 11/02; Poirier – 4/1
Strickland – 4/9; Costa – 7/4
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Complete card (subject to change)
Main card
Islam Makhachev (C) x Dustin Poirier (lightweight title)
Sean Strickland x Paulo Costa (middleweight – five rounds)
Kevin Holland x Michal Oleksiejczuk (middleweight)
Niko Price x Alex Morono (welterweight)
Randy Brown x Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (welterweight)
Preliminary
César Almeida x Roman Kopylov (middleweight)
Jailton Almeida x Alexandr Romanov (heavyweight)
Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki (Lightweight)
Phil Rowe vs Jake Matthews (middleweight)
Initial preliminaries
Mickey Gall x Bassil Hafez (welterweight)
Ailin Perez x Joselyne Edwards (women’s bantamweight)
Mitch Raposo x André Lima (flyweight)
