Having entered fight week, UFC 302 is fast approaching as Islam Makhachev makes his third UFC Lightweight title defence against Dustin Poirier in Newark, New Jersey. Makhachev won the title against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 back in October 2022 in Abu Dhabi. Since picking up the vacant belt, he has defended it twice against one of the greatest featherweights of all time, Alexander Volkanovski. The Australian twice made the jump up to 155lb but despite his valiant efforts, failed to become a two-division world champion.
Islam Makhachev (C) Vs. Dustin Poirier
Dustin Poirier will be hoping it’s third time lucky as he tries to win the first undisputed title of his career. ”The Diamond” has held the interim lightweight title but was submitted against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, failing to become the outright champion. Sublime performances followed as Poirier beat Conor McGregor twice on his way to a second crack at the gold but he fell short once again, this time against the Brazilian, Charles Oliveira.
Poirier took a big risk in his last fight by facing Benoit Saint-Denis in a match-up which came attached with a lot of risk for the lightweight title challenger. A defeat would have most certainly ended any chance of fighting for the belt, but Poirier came through against the highly-rated Frenchman, winning by KO in the second round at UFC 299 in Miami, Florida.
Islam Makhachev goes into the bout as the huge favorite, but don’t sleep on Dustin. He’s proved time and again that he’s one of the best in the organization, and his resume shows wins against some formidable opponents; Chandler, Alvarez, Gaethje, McGregor x2. Many see the key to victory for Poirier as being in the stand-up exchanges. If he can avoid the grappling attempts from Makhachev and keep the fight from going to the ground, his sniper of a right hand could cause the champion a lot of issues. Makhachev, however, believes he has the superior striking. It’s a claim that would have seemed outlandish this time last year, but after stunning all those in attendance at UFC 294 by knocking out Volkanovski, anything is possible in this fight. It’s an intriguing fight for sure, and one that we fortunately do not have to wait too much longer for.
Sean Strickland Vs. Paulo Costa
The co-main event at UFC 302 is one to get the juices flowing. Two heavy hitters with a willingness to stand and trade, a win for either Strickland or Costa will put them close to the title picture. Although Costa has last three of his last four fights, one of them was to the long-reigning champion at the time, Israel Adesanya. Prior to that loss, he was unbeaten in his MMA career and quickly developed a reputation for being a knockout artist. 11 of his 14 wins have come via KO/TKO, but making it 12 against Strickland is far from a foregone conclusion.
Sean Strickland somehow managed to keep Adesanya’s stand-up game muted for twenty-five minutes as he caused one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history by winning the middleweight title at UFC 293. His ‘Philly Shell’ stance caused the champion issues with entering range, and as the fight wore on, Strickland grew in confidence and his boxing prowess was too much for Adesanya to handle on the night. Strickland has never been submitted in his MMA career, and with a high KO/TKO finish rate himself, the co-main event at UFC 302 has all the makings of being a fight to remember.
Kevin Holland Vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
After bouncing between welterweight and middleweight for much of his career, Holland is back at 185lb this weekend as he takes on the powerful Michał Oleksiejczuk, who up until 2022, fought at Light-Heavyweight.
Expect to see Kevin Holland try to take the fight to the ground. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt will likely be smaller in stature than this opponent, and his ground game skills exceed that of his opponent. Getting Oleksiejczuk there in the first place is a task in itself, but with the unorthodox style of Holland, nothing is off the table in this fight.
Both men’s recent records have been hit-and-miss as they share the fact that they’re both 2-2 in their last four. Holland has experience on his side with him competing with a remarkable 37 MMA fights at the age of just 31. He’s had eight fights in just two years, and his willingness to fight anyone, often on short notice, has made him a fan favourite.
Elsewhere on the UFC 302 Card
Jailton Almeiida Vs. Alexander Romanov (Heavyweight)
Randy Brown Vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (Welterweight
Prelims
César Almeida Vs. Roman Kopylov (Middleweight)
Grant Dawson Vs. Joe Solecki (Lightweight)
Philip Rowe Vs. Jake Matthews (Welterweight)
Niko Price Vs. Alex Morono (Welterweight)
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