Islam Makhachev’s next title defense will be against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 302.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the booking during Saturday night’s UFC 300 post-fight press conference. UFC 302 will take place on June 1st at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Meanwhile, a five-round showdown between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa will serve as the night’s middleweight co-headliner.
Makhachev will snap his 13th straight UFC win against Poirier. The Dagestan standout last competed at UFC 294, where he defeated former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovskiy by first-round knockout in October of this year.
This will be Poirier’s third attempt at the undisputed lightweight gold medal after losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019 and Charles Oliveira in December 2021. “Diamond” defeated Benoit Saint-Denis by second-round knockout at UFC 299 on March 9th. .
This will be Strickland’s first fight since vacating his middleweight title with a split decision loss to Doricus du Plessis at UFC 297. Prior to that, the Extreme Couture member had won three straight and won the 185-pound belt with an upset. Israel Adesanya fight at UFC 293.
Costa, on the other hand, has lost in three of his last four appearances in the UFC. In his last fight, “Borrachinha” put up a strong fight in a decision loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 on February 17th.
