As Makhachev steps into the Octagon for his third defense of the lightweight world title at UFC 302, Muhammad is preparing to embark on his own journey toward UFC gold. On July 27, ‘Remember The Name’ will head to Manchester for a clash with current welterweight champ Leon Edwards.
Though Makhachev is focused on getting past Poirier on Saturday (June 1), the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ has openly spoken of his desire to challenge for the welterweight title in a bid to become a two-division champion. Should he dispatch ‘The Diamond’ in The Garden State, that could very well be his next step.
That could leave Belal Muhammad feeling a little uneasy as he prepares to compete for the 170-pound crown. However,’ Remember The Name’ rest easy knowing that even if he’s successful in his first title bid at UFC 304, Makhachev’s path to champ-champ status won’t go through him.
“I would never fight him, 100 percent,” Muhammad told MMA Fighting. “But honestly, he could go up to 185 and beat [Dricus] du Plessis right now. I think he’s that good, really. I think he could go up there and be that two-division champ. Skip over 170 for a little bit, let me beat a couple of these younger guys, and then I’ll go up to 185.”
Belal Muhammad believes makhachev will be dominating for years to come
Unlike his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who bailed after just three lightweight title defenses, Islam Mahhachev plans on becoming the most dominant champion in the history of the sport — a task Belal Muhammad truly believes the Dagestani can achieve in due time.
“He has plenty of time,” Muhammad said of Makhachev. “He’s dominating his fights. He’s winning easily. I think he’s going to continue on that path of just being a dominant champion. He’s got plenty of years left. He said something about it recently in an interview, saying, ‘I’m still hungry, I’m still here.’ So he’s got a long time to go.”
Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier have buried the hatchet ahead of their lightweight title fight later tonight (Sat., June 1, 2024) at UFC 302 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
On Thursday, …
Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier have buried the hatchet ahead of their lightweight title fight later tonight (Sat., June 1, 2024) at UFC 302 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
On Thursday, the two fighters came face-to-face for UFC 302’s pre-fight press conference and ended up exchanging some words on stage. Despite Poirier’s past matchup with Makhachev’s predecessor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, the two didn’t have bad blood coming into fight week. However, once the lightweights squared off things took a turn for the worse.
Poirier, who seems extremely confident entering what could very well be his last shot at UFC gold, told Makhachev that he’s “going to sleep, motherf—ker.” That is typical trash talk for almost all fighters, but “motherf—ker” is not something that is rarely said where Makhachev comes from. It’s an ultimate sign of disrespect and instantly created an intense situation for Makhachev and “Diamond.”
Poirier didn’t mean to disrespect the champion so he made it a point to track down Makhachev after Friday’s weigh-ins to issue an official apology. The two fighters met up backstage and buried the hatchet ahead of their highly-anticipated main event atop UFC 302’s PPV card.
Check out the footage below:
The UFC released the footage of Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier speaking at the weigh-ins after their heated face-off yesterday:
Dustin: “It’s still war, but I would never disrespect your family.”
Islam: “I’m happy [to] understand what they mean, because it’s not good in our… pic.twitter.com/FosTgTaYhV
“You know me. I would never disrespect your family like that,” said Poirier.
“He doesn’t know that Americans [say that]. From different countries,” responded Ali Abdelaziz.
“I know. He didn’t understand,” added Poirier
“We know that. All good,” said Abdelaziz.
“It’s still war. But I would never disrespect your family. That’s not in my heart,” Poirier concluded.
“I’m happy. I understand what this means. Because it’s not good in our country. Maybe in US it’s good. But our country, it’s not good,” said Makhachev.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 302 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 302: “Makhachev vs. Poirier” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 302 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
‘Tarzan’ goes into his bout as a greater-than-2-to-1 favorite, but if Costa can pull off the upset, he’ll catapult himself from the back end of the divisional rankings to the top. Even then, securing a shot at middleweight gold will be no easy task, particularly with the upcoming clash between ex-champion Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev on June 22.
Still, Costa remains optimistic that if he can put it on Strickland in The Garden State, he’ll make a strong case to face the winner of the yet-to-be-announced title tilt between reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya.
“I think [because Strickland] already beat [Israel] Adesanya, if Adesanya beats Dricus [du Plessis], if Sean beats me, he’s going to be next,” Costa said ahead of his fight with Strickland. “But let’s see, we never know. I have a beef with Adesanya as well and against Chimaev, everything can happen. Let’s see Saturday.
“I think who delivers better on Saturday is going to step in front, it depends how the fight’s going to be. If I knock him out [with] great style Saturday, and the fight in [Saudi Arabia between Chimaev and Whittaker] is not so good, we can be in front of them. It depends how I’m going to perform.”
Paulo Costa suggests Robert Whittaker will have an advantage over Khamzat Chimaev
As for how Costa sees things playing out between Whittaker and Chimaev when the two titans descend upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ‘The Eraser’ suggested that ‘The Reaper’ will likely carry an advantage, having significantly more experience going five rounds than the undefeated Chechen monster.
“It’s a hard fight to predict,” Costa said of Whittaker vs. Chimaev. “From what I watched when [former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru] Usman fought Chimaev, I think with proper camp, I don’t know how many rounds, even three or five, Whittaker has some advantage against Chimaev.”
Whittaker, of course, is coming off a big unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 in February. That alone will make it pretty hard for Costa to leapfrog the Aussie in the title picture, but as they say in MMA, anything can happen.
To order this weekend’s Wilder vs. Zhang fight on DAZN PPV click HERE.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will once again play host to an incredible fight card TODAY (Sat., June 1, 2024), beginning at 2 p.m. ET live on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV), as the best of Queensberry goes head-to-head against the best of Matchroom. Headlining the event is a Heavyweight showdown between Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder.
In further “Queensberry vs. Matchroom” action, Daniel Dubois will face off against Filip Hrgovic, while Hamzah Sheeraz battles Austin Williams in a Middleweight affair. Also, Dmitry Bivol will defend his WBA Light Heavyweight title against Malik Zinad.
Queensberry Vs. Matchroom 5v5 Quick Results:
Heavyweight: Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder Heavyweight: Daniel Dubois vs. Filip Hrgovic Middleweight: Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Austin Williams Light Heavyweight: WBA champion Dmitry Bivol vs. Malik Zinad Featherweight: WBA champion Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball Light Heavyweight: Willy Hutchinson vs. Craig Richards
Queensberry Vs. Matchroom 5v5 Highlights, Live Stream Coverage:
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Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
To order this weekend’s Wilder vs. Zhang fight on DAZN PPV click HERE.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will once again play host to an incredible fight card TODAY (Sat., June 1, 2024), beginning at 2 p.m. ET live on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV), as the best of Queensberry goes head-to-head against the best of Matchroom. Headlining the event is a Heavyweight showdown between Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder.
In further “Queensberry vs. Matchroom” action, Daniel Dubois will face off against Filip Hrgovic, while Hamzah Sheeraz battles Austin Williams in a Middleweight affair. Also, Dmitry Bivol will defend his WBA Light Heavyweight title against Malik Zinad.
Queensberry Vs. Matchroom 5v5 Quick Results:
Heavyweight: Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder Heavyweight: Daniel Dubois vs. Filip Hrgovic Middleweight: Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Austin Williams Light Heavyweight: WBA champion Dmitry Bivol vs. Malik Zinad Featherweight: WBA champion Raymond Ford vs. Nick Ball Light Heavyweight: Willy Hutchinson vs. Craig Richards
Queensberry Vs. Matchroom 5v5 Highlights, Live Stream Coverage:
Don’t look now, but Mike Tyson’s recent ulcer may have cleared a path for a Jake Paul vs. Logan Paul boxing match.
On Friday, news broke that Tyson’s massive Netflix superfight opposi…
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Don’t look now, but Mike Tyson’s recent ulcer may have cleared a path for a Jake Paul vs. Logan Paul boxing match.
On Friday, news broke that Tyson’s massive Netflix superfight opposite Jake Paul was postponed due to a medical condition for “Iron Mike.” With Tyson unable to properly train for a few weeks the anticipated matchup currently scheduled for July 20 has officially been put on ice.
But that doesn’t mean Paul won’t still fight this summer.
After learning about Tyson’s current medical issue, Logan Paul took to social media on Friday to throw his hat into the ring to fight his brother. While Paul is currently a rising star for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he has some boxing experience to lean back on, including an eight-round exhibition match with Floyd Mayweather back in 2021.
Jake, who is trying to make it as a professional boxer, had his hopes set on knocking off the great Mike Tyson in front of “hundreds of millions” of fans and adding some legitimacy to his questionable track record. It’s unknown at this time how serious this Paul vs. Paul fight truly is, but both brothers seem on board.
Check out their back-and-forth from Friday and let us know what you think!
After a rare week off, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is once again hitting the road for its latest pay-per-view (PPV) offering as UFC 302 will go down later TONIGHT…
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After a rare week off, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is once again hitting the road for its latest pay-per-view (PPV) offering as UFC 302 will go down later TONIGHT (Sat., June 1, 2024) inside Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Headlining the event will be a Lightweight title fight as division champion, Islam Makhachev, defends his belt against former interim title holder, Dustin Poirier. In the co-main event, Sean Strickland will face off against Paulo Costa in a Middleweight affair.
What’s Hot:
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
At this moment, Islam Makhachev is the pound-for-pound king in mixed martial arts (MMA), and rightfully so. The current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight king is on a 13-fight win streak (longest in UFC), and has an impressive record of 25-1. He took the torch passed on by his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he has been running wild with it ever since, violently taking the strap from Charles Oliveira in Oct. 2022, then defending it two times against former UFC Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski. But his defense against Dustin Poirier will be his first against a true 155-pound fighter who has spent his career trying to climb the top of the division. “The Diamond” has tasted UFC gold before by winning the interim strap in 2019, but failed to become the undisputed king on two separate occasions. This is perhaps Poirier’s last chance at accomplishing that feat, and it’s safe to say it’s coming against his toughest opponent to date.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
For Poirier, keeping the fight on the fight is his obvious best path to victory because once Makhachev gets a hold of you, going for a ride down to the canvas is an absolute guarantee. Plus, Makhachev’s lone loss came via knockout, and Poirier’s hits hard…very hard. But trying to avoid the takedown is just half the battle for “Diamond,” and Makhachev isn’t exactly a slouch on the feet, though in an all-out standup war my money is on Poirier. Makhachev will also have a strength advantage, and he also has the advantage of learning from Khabib himself, who choked out Poirier at UFC 242. A loss won’t necessarily mean the end of the road for the Louisiana native, but another title fight likely won’t come anytime soon, if ever again. For Makhachev, another title defense only ups his stock and proves his worth as pound-for-pound king. Both men expect a finish in this one, but this very well could be a drag-out, 25-minute war. If it does go that route, the odds are in Makhachev’s favor.
What’s Not:
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I am not feeling the Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk fight at all. My disdain for this matchup grew further when news broke that Holland turned down a fight against Nick Diaz. I mean, the chance to fight a legend of the game as opposed to an inconsistent fighter that not a lot of people gravitate towards seems like an easy choice. Nevertheless, Holland hasn’t exactly been lighting it up as of late, losing his last two fights, including coming up short against former Bellator MMA star, Michael Page, at UFC 299. As for Oleksiejczuk, he is just 1-2 in his last three fights and is coming off a submission loss at the hands of Michel Pereira just two months ago. Makes you wonder how this fight made the main card.
Original Card vs. Actual Card:
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida were originally set to throw down on this card before Volkov was pulled for undisclosed reasons and booked to face Serghei Pavlovich on June 22. Almeida was then booked to face off against Alexandr Romanov. Almeida hopes to bounce back after suffering his first loss in six years after getting knocked out by Curtis Blaydes at UFC 299, snapping his 15-fight win streak. He plans to start another against Romanov, who managed to get back on track by snapping his two-fight skid after defeating Blagoy Ivanov a year ago. Also, Nyamjargal Tumendemberel got the call up to the big leagues to face Andre Lima in a Flyweight fight after ParkHyun-sung bowed out with an injury. In turn, Tumendemberel bowed out of the fight due to visa issues.
Injuries:
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Anthony Hernandez was set to do battle against Roman Dolidze but was forced out of the fight after he suffered a torn ligament in his hand. Park Hyun-sung suffered an unfortunate knee injury and was forced out of his fight against Andre Lima and replaced by UFC newcomer, Nyamjargal Tumendemberel, who was then replaced by Mitch Raposo.
New Blood:
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After four straight wins following his loss on the Contender Series, Mitch Raposo has now made his way into the UFC roster to face Andre Lima. Raposo is 9-1 so far with seven stoppage wins and is out to make a splash right away. The 25-year old Flyweight will find it tough to do so against Lima, who is undefeated at 8-0 and won his UFC debut after his opponent, Igor da Silva, bit him on the arm for no reason, leading to his release.
How The Prelims Look:
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Cesar Almeida had himself one explosive UFC debut a few months ago, knocking out Dylan Budka in the second round to improve his pro record to 5-0. That was his fourth finish in his young MMA career, but has made it known that knockouts are his forte. He will try to replicate that performance against Roman Kopylov, who is coming off a loss to Anthony Hernandez. That defeat prevented him from getting his fifth straight win inside the Octagon, and so he now must start from scratch.
In Lightweight action, Grant Dawson and Joe Solecki will throw down to see who can get back into the win column. Dawson is coming off a devastating 33-second knockout loss at the hands of Bobby Green (see it again here). Solecki, meanwhile, was slammed unconscious by Drakkar Klose in his last fight (replay here), so both men will look to rid themselves of those horrible memories by picking up a much-needed win.
Jake Matthews once enjoyed a nice 6-1 run under the UFC banner, but those days are long gone and the talented Welterweight currently finds himself in a tough stretch having lost three of his last five fights. He will go up against Philip Rowe, who saw his momentum halted thanks to a close split-decision loss at the hands of Neil Magny. One man will find himself in a deeper hole after Saturday night, while the other can breathe a sigh of relief.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The lone women’s fight on this card will feature Ailin Perez doing battle against Joselyne Edwards at Bantamweight. After stumbling out of the UFC gates with a submission loss at the hands of Stephanie Egger, Perez has gone on to win two straight against Ashlee Evans-Smith and Lucie Pudilova. Edwards, on the other hand, had her three fight win streak snapped at the hands of Nora Cornolle in Sept. 2023.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
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After a 4-0 start to his MMA career, including going 3-0 inside the Octagon and upsetting the once-hyped Sage Northcutt, Mickey Gall hasn’t exactly enjoyed success under the UFC banner. Since Nov. 2017, Gall has only managed to rack up a subpar record of 3-5, including going 1-3 in his last four. After fighting out his contract, Gall has been invited back and will attempt to look for a fresh start as he goes up against Bassil Hafez, who is coming off a loss to Jack Della Maddalena in his UFC debut. If Gall loses his third straight, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he gets his walking papers.
Interest Level: 8/10
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In the co-main event of the evening, former UFC Middleweight champion, Sean Strickland, will attempt to make Paulo Costa’s face ugly. His words, not mine. Strickland lost his title to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, just four months after he shocked Israel Adesanya to become division king. As for Costa, he has been trying to climb his way to another title fight after failing to win the crown against Adesanya at UFC 253 three and a half years ago. Costa is just 1-3 in his last four fights, so he needs a win pretty urgently here to keep his confidence high. A win over Strickland won’t necessarily get him into a title fight, but it gives him a new lease on his combat life. For Strickland, taking out Costa in impressive fashion gets him toward a path to another title shot, but he will likely have to wait to see the outcome of the upcoming showdown between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, as the winner of that fight will likely get a championship shot.
Niko Price has seen better days inside the Octagon. The longtime veteran is currently on a two-fight losing streak and has lost three of his last four. If we want to take it back a bit further, “Hybrid” is 3-6-1 in his last 10 fights inside the Octagon. Price always shows up to fight, but he has to start getting wins if he doesn’t want to get released. And at this stage of his career, getting an invite back won’t happen. He has a tough fight against Alex Morono, who is coming off a win over Court McGee. Since 2021, Morono has quietly racked up an impressive 6-2 record.
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Randy Brown and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos will kick off the main card in a Welterweight matchup. Brown has quietly gone 6-1 in his last seven fights, but he is still on the outside looking in when it comes to the Top 15. Dos Santos, meanwhile, has an impress 10-3-1 UFC record, and still hasn’t been able to get a ranking spot, either. But that may all change for the man who gets the “W” here.
185 lbs.: Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa 185 lbs.: Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk 170 lbs.: Niko Price vs. Alex Morono 170 lbs.: Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
UFC 302 ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN2/ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
185 lbs.: Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov 265 lbs.: Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov 155 lbs.: Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki 170 lbs.: Phil Rowe vs. Jake Matthews
UFC 302 Early ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez 135 lbs.: Ailin Perez vs. Joselyne Edwards 125 lbs.: Andre Lima vs. Mitch Raposo
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 302 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 302: “Makhachev vs. Poirier” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 302 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
It won’t be easy, but Paulo Costa believes a big win over Sean Strickland could put him at the…
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