Islam Makhachev separated himself from former UFC champions Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Max Holloway when he won his 14th straight fight under the UFC banner, submitting Dustin Poirier in the fifth round of their UFC 302 main event. Makhachev, who retained his UFC lightweight title with the stoppage victory, can now set his sights on the only two fighters who have longer winning streaks than his, ex-welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (15) and former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva (16).
As expected, Makhachev used his wrestling, ground control, and submission skills to secure a D'arce choke on Poirier in the final stanza. Before facing Makhachev, Poirier did his best to shore up his takedown defense in fight camp, but facing a lifelong grappler in a title fight was too big of an ask for Poirier. With the loss on Saturday, Poirier joins the ranks of UFC fighters who have fallen short in three title fights.
In the evening's co-main event, ex-UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland bounced back from his title-losing decision matchup against Dricus du Plessis to pick up a split decision win over ex-title challenger Paulo Costa. The win will keep Strickland in the No. 1 spot in the middleweight rankings.
Overall, UFC 302 was one of the weaker pay-per-view events of the year for the UFC. Still, Makhachev's performance, along with Kevin Holland's impressive submission earlier on the main card, helped satisfy the fans looking for something special from the combatants on the card.
Below we look at the winners and losers from UFC 302, along with the results and fight-night bonus winners.
UFC 302 took place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The main card streamed on ESPN+ PPV following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.
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UFC 302 Winners
Islam Makhachev: Islam Makhachev put on an excellent performance at UFC 302. Known for his grappling and ground game, Makhachev excelled in those departments, but he did not shy away from striking with Dustin Poirier, who is known for his striking skills.
Although there were a few tense moments during the battle, Makhachev persevered, picking up a late submission win to defend his UFC lightweight title.
Sean Strickland: Sean Strickland did his thing against Paulo Costa, walking forward and pressuring throughout the 25-minute contest. It was not an exciting win or one that will be spoken about in glowing terms, but it was a win, and Strickland was the No. 1 ranked middleweight heading into UFC 302, a spot he will hold onto next week.
Kevin Holland: Kevin Holland has a reputation as a fighter with more mouth than talent. While some of that rep is deserved, Holland is a high-level fighter with skills everywhere. He showed that on Saturday after getting tagged by a left by Michal Oleksiejczuk, recovering from that blow to lock up a fight ending armbar in this middleweight contest.
As Holland said after the fight, “I think I’m the best gatekeeper you guys have ever seen.”
Niko Price: Niko Price, who got a full camp for UFC 302, used his cardio to pick up a win over Alex Morono, who was a late replacement opponent. Price’s pace was just too much for a sapped Morono. This was not a great performance from Price, but he did enough to win, ending his two-fight losing skid.
Randy Brown: Randy Brown did a great job in the first round of his welterweight scrap against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. He showed smooth movement, admiral footwork, and the ability to use his length and reach to score with his striking. He also showed the ability to land some powerful knees when he found the time and space. When things did not go his way in the second round, Brown did not give up, reversing Dos Santos near the end of the stanza after struggling with his opponent's grappling.
Brown is now on a three-fight winning streak and will likely get a shot at a ranked opponent the next time he steps into the Octagon.
Jailton Almeida: Jailton Almeida made a bad decision in his last fight, hanging onto a leg when he shouldn’t have and getting knocked out by Curtis Blaydes. He needed a redemptive performance to bounce back from that loss.
I don’t know if he got that on Saturday, but he did his thing, using his wrestling and submission skills to pick up a quick first-round submission win over a very overmatched Alexander Romanov.
Grant Dawson: Grant Dawson had a rough go of things in the first round of his fight against Joe Solecki, finding himself in a choke attempt and bloodied by an elbow. However, Dawson spent the next 10 minutes of the scrap in a top position, ringing up ground strikes and earning a decision win. It wasn't the prettiest victory, but Dawson did what he needed to do to pick up the win.
Jake Matthews: Jake Matthews used power, aggression and ground control to pick up a decision win over Philip Rowe at UFC 302. Rowe attempted to use his length to keep Matthews at bay, but Matthews just bullied his way inside and once there he landed powerful strikes to pick up the decision win. With the victory, Matthews has alternated wins and losses over his past seven fights.
Bassil Hafez: Bassil Hafez’s effort at UFC 302 was a mixed bag. He did an okay job with throwing with power, but he didn’t do a lot to set up his striking once the fight moved into the second round.
However, Hafez landed with more power and frequency, giving him the unanimous decision nod.
Hafez needs to work on his cardio, setups, and defense, but he could be a fun fighter to watch in the UFC welterweight division.
Andre Lima: Andre Lima missed weight by five pounds, which was not a great way to start his UFC 302 curtain jerkeragainst late replacement opponent Mitch Raposo.
Lima looked very good against his overmatched foe. He was calm and measured and used his leg kicks to his advantage. He had no problem picking up what should have been a clear unanimous decision win.
The thing to watch with Lima is if he can make weight. He did so for his March UFC debut, but weighing in at 130 for a 125-pound scrap can’t happen more than once.
UFC 302 Losers
Dustin Poirier: Dustin Poirier put forth a valiant effort in his third attempt to win the undisputed UFC lightweight title, but like his first two tries at gaining the belt, Poirier fell short, once again losing via submission. Poirier defended a handful of takedown attempts from Islam Makhachev, but not enough. The grappling skills of the champ kept Poirier from picking up the win, but he should not hang his head following UFC 302, he lost to a great champion in Makhachev.
Paulo Costa: Paulo Costa fought almost all five rounds against Sean Strickland backing up, despite Strickland not having much power. Had he planted his feet and stood in front of Strickland, at least early, he might have had a chance to win the fight, especially if he had landed just a handful of powerful strikes.
Michal Oleksiejczuk: Michal Oleksiejczuk fought to his strengths from the start, looking to close distance and land powerful strikes. However, he was not ready for the submission game of his opponent, Kevin Holland, who locked in a nasty armbar to end the fight.
Alex Morono: Alex Morono ran out of gas against Niko Price. His cardio, which failed him in the second round, left him looking slow and reluctant to engage.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos: Outside of the second round, where he locked up a choke attempt, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos struggled against Randy Brown. He could not close range, and he could not deal with the length of his foe. The loss ended a three-fight unbeaten streak for Dos Santos.
Joe Solecki: Joe Solecki tried to use his grappling skills to negate Grant Dawson's striking. Outside of having some success in the first round, he failed.
Philip Rowe: Philip Rowe used his length well against Jake Matthews. He used a fast jab to bloody Matthews early in the first round, but he could not ward off the aggression of his opponent. With the decision loss, Rowe is on the first losing skid of his MMA career since he went 0-2 in his first two pro fights.
Mickey Gall: Mickey Gall landed a decent amount of strikes against Bassil Hafez, but he didn’t have the power behind his punches to sway the judges. Gall did a decent job of fighting behind his jab, but his lack of power prevented him from picking up the points he needed against the defensively deficient Hafez.
With the loss, Gall, who had not competed since 2022, dropped to 0-3 in his past three outings. His most recent victory came in 2021.
Mitch Raposo: Mitch Raposo was overmatched against Andre Lima. He looked reluctant to engage, and when he did, Raposo threw his strikes as single blows instead of in combinations.
This was Raposo’s UFC debut and it came on short notice, so it might be the best fight to judge what the future holds for him. However, he needs to show a lot of improvement in his next outing.
Referees: The referees at UFC 302 allowed multiple fouls to go unpunished, including a headbutt in the second fight of the night. This is one of the biggest failings of MMA officials. They need to enforce the rules.
UFC Commentators: It’s frustrating to hear veteran UFC employees like Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier get the scoring criteria wrong more often than they get it right. I would implore fans who are interested in scoring fights to read the criteria as it is written and ignore much of the talk of the likes of Rogan and Cormier, especially when it comes to ground control and having difficulty awarding a round to a fighter who is in bottom position.
UFC 302 Fight Card Results
UFC 302 Pay-Per-View card
Islam Makhachev defeats Dustin Poirier via submission at 2:42 of Round 5 (via D’arce choke)
Sean Strickland defeats Paulo Costa via split decision (46-49, 50-45, 49-46)
Kevin Holland defeats Michal Oleksiejczuk via submission at 1:34 of Round 1 (armbar)
Niko Price defeats Alex Morono via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Randy Brown defeats Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
UFC 302 Preliminary Card
Roman Kopylov defeats Cesar Almeida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Jailton Almeida defeats Alexander Romanov via submission at 2:27 of Round 1 (rear-naked choke)
Grant Dawson defeats Joe Solecki via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Jake Matthews defeats Philip Rowe via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
UFC 302 Early Preliminary Card
Bassil Hafez defeats Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ailn Perez defeats Joselyne Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Andre Lima defeats Mitch Raposo via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
UFC 302 Fight Night Bonuses
Fight of the Night: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier
Performance of the Night: Islam Makhachev
Performance of the Night: Kevin Holland
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