UFC 302: Fights, Results, and What To Expect?
UFC 302 was the organization's latest fight card stacked with amazing fights for its viewers. The event took place at Prudential Center Newark, New Jersey. The main event was a 5 round championship bout where Dustin Poirier challenged Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title. The co-main event was the number one contender bout between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa. Other interesting fights included Kevin Holland vs Michal Oleksiejczuk, Jailton Almeida vs Alexander Rumanov, etc.
Main Event: Islam vs Dustin
This was a much anticipated, fan-favorite match-up as it allowed the UFC veteran Dustin (The Diamond) Poirier his 3rd shot at the lightweight title. This was also Islam’s first title defense against a ranked lightweight contender since he became the champion, as his first two title defenses were against the pound-for-pound #1 and the then featherweight champion Alexander Volkanowski.
Many fans believed that Dustin would be able to pull it off this time and finally become the champion. However, Islam Makhachev and his fans believed that this would be an easy fight with a 2nd or 3rd round finish just as it was in the case of Islam’s long-time friend and coach Khabib Nurmagamedov. The lead-up to the fight was eccentric, with crazy training camps evident from the snippets posted on the social media of the fighters and their team members.
Although Khabib had announced that he wouldn’t be taking part in any more MMA-related activities, he not only joined Islam’s training camp but also was his corner man. Although the face-off between the fighters was tense due to a language barrier, the confusion was soon cleared up and overall the process was respectful. Both fighters successfully cut weight to 155 pounds and the fight day arrived.
After the prelims, the main event started. R1 was clearly dominated by Islam Makhachev as he secured a ground time of 4 minutes, bombarding Dustin with punches and elbows while Dustin was not able to achieve much. However, the next three rounds were mythical as we saw an exchange of punches, kicks, and elbows from both of the fighters. Dustin defended most of Islam’s takedowns and managed to keep the fights on his feet. On the other hand, Islam displayed excellent striking countering each punch thrown by Dustin and relentless takedown attempts.
During the fights, both of the fighters were cut badly. This can be attributed to the new 3 oz gloves adopted by UFC for the first time on this card. Up until round 5, it can be said that the fight was not in favor of any fighter, rather it was a dog fight, with each fighter conflicting and taking damage.
However, the landscape changed in round 5 when Islam ankled picked Dustin which led to him securing a takedown and then putting him in a D’arce choke. Dustin tapped but momentarily got unconscious. This led to the referee calling an end to the fight and Bruce Buffer announcing: “…AND STILL THE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD…….ISLAM MAKHACHEV..”
In their post-fight interviews inside and outside the octagon, both fighters gave insight as to what their fighting future looks like. Dustin hinted that this might have been the last fight of his career as there is no more a goal for him to fight for and due to the fact that he now has a daughter who he wants to spend more time with. Islam on the other hand clearly wants to fight for a second belt against the welterweight champion Leon Edwards. However, UFC president Dana White hints that the next fight for Islam has to be a rematch against the number 1 contender Arman Tusrakyan, who Islam had defeated in his UFC debut.
Overall, this main event clearly demonstrated the skill set of the fighters involved. Many fans are sad to see Dustin hanging up the gloves but wish him all of the best and are eager to see more bangers from Islam Makhachev.