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UFC 302 Ceremonial Weigh-in — Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

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:

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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.

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:

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

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.

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.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC 302 Fight Card:

UFC 302 Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:

155 lbs.: UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier

UFC 302 Main Card On ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):

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.