After a rare week off, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns with a thrilling lightweight title fight and a compelling UFC 302 pay-per-view card.
The 12-bout main event was officially confirmed. Champion Islam Makhachev and challenger Dustin Poirier both weighed in at 155 pounds for their five-round bout. Andre Lima failed to make weight for his bout against flyweight Mitch Raposo, but was listed at 130 pounds. As a result, Lima will be fined 30% of his prize money.
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Fans will get to see Makhachev (25-1), coming off back-to-back title defenses against Alexander Volkanovski, take on another lightweight. The first bout was very close, but Makhachev knocked “The Great” out with a devastating head kick in the first round of the last-minute rematch. The Russian fighter won the belt in 2022 by submitting Charles Oliveira via arm triangle choke.
Meanwhile, this may be Poirier’s final shot at a UFC title. “The Diamond” has won two of his last three fights, including an upset win over Benoit St. Denis. The Louisiana native has come up short in both his title bouts against Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov, losing both times via rear-naked choke.
UFC 302 prelims begin at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT on Saturday on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass before moving to ESPN+ and ESPN2 at 8pm ET/5pm PT, after which the pay-per-view main card on ESPN+ will begin at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
UFC 302 Weigh-in Results:
Islam Makhachev (155) vs. Dustin Poirier (155)
Paulo Costa (185) vs. Sean Strickland (185)
Kevin Holland (185) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (185)
Alex Morono (170) vs. Niko Price (170)
Randy Brown (170) vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (170)
Cesar Almeida (185) vs. Roman Kopylov (185)
Jairton Almeida (241) vs. Alexander Romanov (265)
Grant Dawson (155) vs. Joe Solecki (155)
Jake Matthews (170) vs. Phillip Lowe (171)
Basil Hafez (170) vs. Mickey Gall (170)
Joseline Edwards (136) vs. Ailin Perez (135)
Andre Lima (130)* vs. Mitch Raposo (125)
* Lima was fined 30 percent of his prize money for being four pounds under the required weight.
