UFC 302: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier: Full Results

UFC 302 just wrapped up. The sixth UFC pay-per-view of the year took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 1. It featured several interesting matchups involving a mix of current and former champions, established contenders, and rising prospects. So, let's recap the fights and explore the full event results.

In the main event, reigning UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev attempted the third defense of his title against former interim title holder Dustin Poirier. Coming off back-to-back wins over Alexander Volkanovski, Makhachev put the title and the No.1 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings on the line against Poirier.

Poirier, who is considered among the greatest fighters to have never won the undisputed UFC title, attempted to capture the crown in this third opportunity. The Louisiana native has primarily struggled against dominant grapplers in recent history and Makhachev's solid wrestling background was hailed as his biggest hurdle heading into the fight.

Makhachev had a strong start to the fight and controlled Poirier on the ground for the majority of Round 1, threatening with various submission attempts. Poirier offered a lot of resistance in Rounds 2 and 3 but Makhachev appeared to be leading on the scorecards.

The story started changing in championship rounds when Poirier denied the takedowns and got away with a few stinging shots, including an elbow that opened a gash on Makhachev's head. As Poirier appeared to be winning Round 5, he ended up on the ground after a fierce grappling exchange from Makhachev and succumbed to a D'arce choke.

With the win, Makhachev created the record for the longest win streak in lightweight history (14), two short of the record for the longest win streak in UFC history. The Dagestani fighter also matched the record for most consecutive lightweight title defenses (three) with BJ Penn, Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In the co-main event, former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland took on No.7-ranked Paulo Costa in a five-round fight. Strickland, who lost the middleweight title to Dricus du Plessis in a closely contested fight in January, had been campaigning for an immediate rematch. But the promotion has not announced plans for the champion yet and 'Tarzan' accepted to fight the Brazilian.

After starting his UFC career with a formidable win streak, Costa has struggled to pile up victories in recent years and has gone 1-3 since his historic battle with Yoel Romero. Heading into the fight, Costa was coming off a loss against Robert Whittaker. However, his performance was widely appreciated.

Strickland, who had a perceived advantage in terms of cardio, did predictably well in that area and pressed the action for five rounds without getting tired. He had the most success with jabs, front kicks, and the right straight.

Costa invested heavily in the outside leg kicks and body shots. However, the cumulative impact was not enough to slow down the former champion, who ended the fight with a flurry of aggressive strikes.

Strickland did enough to score the win and the fight resulted in a split-decision victory for the American. However, the scorecards (50-45, 46-49, 49-46) were heavily criticized.

Elsewhere on the main card, Kevin Holland returned to middleweight after losing to Jack Della Maddalena and Michael Page at welterweight in his last two outings and took on Poland's Michal Oleksiejczuk.

The Polish fighter came out aggressively and knocked Holland down with a left hand. As he followed 'Trailblazer' to the ground with vicious hammer fists, Holland snatched a tight armbar. Oleksiejczuk refused to tap and tried to survive the deadly submission hold until his arm appeared to have snapped. The referee stepped in to stop the action and Holland was declared the winner by technical submission.

Veteran fighter Niko Price successfully snapped his two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Alex Morono.

Meanwhile, the main card opening bout saw Randy Brown fight veteran fighter Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in the welterweight division. Brown used his striking and reach to his advantage while Zaleski dos Santos offered good resistance and even came close to scoring a submission win. However, Brown outpointed him on the scorecards for a unanimous decision victory.

---

UFC 302 results: Roman Kopylov, Jailton Almeida and Grant Dawson emerge victorious

In the preliminary card headlining bout, former kickboxer Cesar Almeida fought middleweight contender Roman Kopylov in an attempt to improve his undefeated record to 6-0. Meanwhile, Kopylov was trying to get back in the win column after suffering a submission loss against Anthony Hernandez that snapped his four-fight win streak.

Almeida has fought the likes of Alex Pereira in his kickboxing days, but the fight against Kopylov marked a huge step up in competition in MMA. While both men are primarily strikers by trade, Kopylov proved to be the better grappler.

He mixed up striking and grappling effectively to exploit the Brazilian's relatively weak ground game. While Almeida made the fight competitive with precise striking, Kopylov edged past him to earn a split-decision win.

In the only heavyweight contest of the card, Jailton Almeida went up against Alexander Romanov. Almeida, one of the smaller heavyweights, had little trouble taking Romanov to the ground. After taking his opponent's back, the Brazilian sunk in a rear-naked choke and forced him to tap.

Lightweight contender Grant Dawson got back in the win column with a unanimous decision win over Joe Solecki after controlling the fight for the better part of three rounds. 'KGD' suffered a quick knockout loss against Bobby Green in October 2023 which snapped his 12-fight unbeaten streak. He employed his core strength of grappling against Solecki and controlled his opponent on the ground to ensure victory.

Jake Matthews and Philip Rowe kicked off the preliminary card and Matthews cruised to a unanimous decision win.

In the early prelims, Bassil Hafez, Ailin Perez, and Andre Lima emerged victorious.

Catch the full event results below:

Main Card

Lightweight - Islam Makhachev def. Dustin Poirier via submission (D'Arce choke) (R5, 2:42) (Lightweight title fight)

Middleweight - Sean Strickland def. Paulo Costa via split decision (50-45, 49-46, 46-49)

Middleweight - Kevin Holland def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via technical submission (armbar) (R1, 1:34)

Welterweight - Niko Price def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)

Welterweight - Randy Brown def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)

Preliminary Card

Middleweight - Roman Kopylov def. Cesar Almeida via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)

Heavyweight - Jailton Almeida def. Alexander Romanov via submission (Rear-naked choke) (R1, 2:27)

Lightweight - Grant Dawson def. Joe Solecki via unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28)

Welterweight - Jake Matthews def. Philip Rowe via unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28)

Early Prelims

Welterweight - Bassil Hafez def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28)

Women's bantamweight - Ailin Perez def. Joselyne Edwards via unanimous decision (29-28 X 2, 30-27)

Flyweight - Andre Lima def. Mitch Raposo via split decision (30-27 X 2, 28-29) (Lima missed weight)