Islam Makhachev will defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier in the new main event of UFC 302 on June 1st in Newark, New Jersey.
The co-main event will pit former middleweight champion Sean Strickland against Paulo Costa. Both bouts were announced by UFC CEO Dana White during the UFC 300 post-fight press conference.
Rumors have been flying for weeks that Makhachev would return sooner rather than later, and Poirier appeared to be the favorite to take the title after crushing Benoit St. Denis at UFC 299 in March.
Poirier, a former interim lightweight champion, fell short in his last two attempts to capture the undisputed title, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. He will be making his third attempt against one of the most dominant champions on the current UFC roster.
Makhachev has only tasted defeat once in his career and is currently on a 13-fight winning streak, including two successful defenses of his lightweight title. Most recently, Makhachev knocked out Alexander Volkanovskiy in a rematch after winning Fight of the Year in their first encounter in February of this year.
Makhachev is currently looking to defend his title for the third time when he clashes with Poirier in a five-round title fight to conclude UFC 302 in June.
As for the co-main event, Strickland will compete for the first time since losing the middleweight title to Doricus du Plessis in a close decision. As for Costa, he’s looking to get back in the win column after a back-and-forth battle with Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 in February.
