Dustin Poirier talks about his UFC career and life outside the octagon
Dustin Poirier has accomplished a lot in his MMA career. He talks to Mackenzie Salmon about his priorities outside the octagon and what it means to be in the Hall of Fame.
It’s war night in New Jersey.
The UFC is bringing its next pay-per-view to the Prudential Center at UFC 302, where 12 bouts will take place Saturday night. The main event is the UFC Lightweight Championship between champion Islam Makachev and Dustin Poirier, who will officially seek to become the champion and add another chapter to his story.
The co-main event will be a middleweight bout between the controversial Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa. The event kicks off what is expected to be an exciting month for the UFC, including the return of Conor McGregor on June 29 and Michael Chandler.
Follow USA TODAY Sports for live updates from UFC 302:
We have the first entry of the night! Jailton Almeida ended his fight against Alexander Romanov with a naked choke in the first round.
Despite their weight difference, Almeida had no problem taking Romanov down in the first round. Almeida gets to Romanov’s back and submits easily.
“I said I’m going to finish the fight. I knew he won the last fight, but I came here to finish the fight,” Almeida said through a translator.
Almeida celebrated by doing a dance move in the center of the ring.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is at home for UFC 302, which is being held not far from the team’s New Jersey facility.
But the four-time MVP — whose tenure with the Jets so far has consisted of just four plays and plenty of headlines — isn’t expected to be the most popular figure in the building.
Former President Donald Trump announced on his reality social media account that he will be at the Prudential Center on Saturday night, making it a presumptive, er, interesting week for the Republican presidential nominee.
Grant Dawson defeated Joe Solekin by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Dawson rushes out the door and instantly goes for a fly, but Solecki grabs Dawson’s leg and slowly takes him down and nearly puts him in a guillotine. Dawson was able to escape and take control on the ground, which ended the match. Solecki elbowed Dawson, causing a gash above Dawson’s right eye, but failed to intimidate Dawson in any particular way.
Matthews earned his 13th UFC victory by unanimous decision over Philip Rowe (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) in their Welterweight bout.
Rowe has an 80.5-inch reach, the second-longest reach among active UFC welterweights, and uses his 7.5-inch wingspan to his advantage. Rowe landed a right hand to Matthews’ face and broke his nose midway through the first round. Although he was bleeding profusely, Matthews stunned Rowe with a pair of kicks in the second round and took Rowe to the ground for the win.
Basil Hafeez defeated Mickey Gall by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in a hard hitting contest. Both Hafez and Gall traded blows throughout the fight, but Hafez had the upper hand.
After the victory, Hafez delivered a message.
“There is something I want to say, something that has been heavy on my heart for a long time: I do not support genocide,” Hafez told the crowd. “I do not support the killing of innocent women and children for war or money and power. We are all children of God, and we all deserve a fair chance in our lives. Palestine is free.”
Aileen Perez defeated Jocelyn Edwards by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) in a women’s bantamweight bout. Perez celebrated with her “signature twerk”.
Although she did not receive a point penalty, an official timeout was called in the second round after Edwards was called for a headbutt. After the restart, Perez responded with a spinning punch that took Edwards down and kicked her in the face. Perez took control of the fight and had several takedowns on Edwards.
There is no love lost between Perez and Edwards. A war of words erupted as they entered the fight at UFC Fight Night 232 in Las Vegas in November, with Perez scheduled to fight Lucie Pudilova days later. The UFC did not discipline Perez and Edwards for the fight outside the ring and instead scheduled the bout for Saturday.
Early in the fight, Perez reached out to shake gloves with Edwards, who did not return the gesture. But they both hugged each other as if they were going to cut their beef.
Andre Lima remains undefeated.
Lima came out of the gate strong and delivered power kick after power kick to Raposo’s body. Lima landed 23 leg kicks and 13 significant head kicks on Raposo in three rounds. Raposo, meanwhile, had 30 significant headbutts against Lima, but it wasn’t enough to win the fly fight. Lima was declared the winner by split decision, much to the surprise of broadcasters Jon Anick, Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan, who all felt that Lima should have swept the cards for good.
When is UFC 302?
UFC 302 is Saturday, June 1st. Here are the times when the early prelims, prelims and main cards are expected to start.
- Prerequisites: 6:30 p.m. ET
- Prerequisites:- 8 pm in Ethiopia
- Master Card: 10 pm in Ethiopia
How to watch UFC 302
The prelims, prelims and main card will all air on different platforms, with the main card being a pay-per-view event. Here’s where to see all the action and how much it costs:
- Prerequisites: UFC fight pass ($9.99 for monthly subscription).
- Prerequisite: ESPN2 and ESPN+.
- Master Card: ESPN+ Pay-Per-View ($79.99).
UFC 302 match card
Main card
- UFC Lightweight Championship: Islam Makachev (c) vs. Dustin Poirier
- Middleweight competition Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa
- Middleweight competition Kevin Holland vs. Michael Oleksiejczuk
- Welterweight bout: Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Prelims
- Medium weight: Cesar Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov
- Lightweight: Grant Dawson by Joe Solecki
- Welterweight: Philip Rowe with Jake Matthews
- Heavyweight Fighting: Jalton Almeida vs. Alexander Romanov
Early prelims
- Welterweight: Mickey Gal Basil Hafez
- Women’s weight: Aileen Perez vs. Joselyne Edwards
- Flyweight: Mitch Raposo vs. Andrew Lima
Where is UFC 302?
UFC 302 is taking place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Islam Makachev vs Dustin Poirier tape history
| Islam Makachev | Dustin Poirier | |
| 25-1-0 | Record | 30-8-0 |
| Russia | Country | united states |
| 5-feet-10-inches | Height | 5-feet-9-inches |
| 155 pounds | Weight | 156 pounds |
| 70.5 inches | Reach out | 72 inches |
| 40.5 inches | Foot reach | 40.5 inches |
Tape history of Sean Strickland vs Paulo Costa
| Sean Strickland | Paulo Costa | |
| 28-6-0 | Record | 14-3-0 |
| united states | Country | Brazil |
| 6-feet-1-inch | Height | 6-feet-1-inch |
| 184 pounds | Weight | 185 pounds |
| 76 inches | Reach out | 72 inches |
| 41.5 inches | Foot reach | 39.5 inches |