''UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event produced by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

that took place on June 1, 2024, at the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...

, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, United States.

Background

The event marked the promotion's tenth visit to Newark and first since UFC 288 in May 2023. The debut of the new UFC Official Fight Gloves took place at this event. A

UFC Lightweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight class ...

bout between current champion

Islam Makhachev Islam Ramazanovich Makhachev (; born 27 October 1991) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and former sambo competitor. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the cu ...

and former interim champion

Dustin Poirier Dustin Glenn Poirier (born January 19, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion. ...

headlined the event. A five-round middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion

Sean Strickland Sean Thomas Strickland (born February 27, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. ...

and former title challenger

Paulo Costa Paulo Henrique Costa (born 21 April 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of June 10, 2025, he is #13 in the UFC middleweight ...

took place in the co-main event. A heavyweight bout between former Bellator Heavyweight World Champion Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida was expected to take place at this event. However, the bout was scrapped for unknown reasons and Volkov was booked for UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Chimaev against former interim

UFC Heavyweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

challenger

Sergei Pavlovich Sergei Vladimirovich Pavlovich (; born 13 May 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. Pavlovich currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A one-time champion of Russia in Combat Ku ...

. Almeida faced Alexander Romanov instead. A women's strawweight bout between former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Michelle Waterson-Gomez and

Gillian Robertson Gillian Elizabeth Robertson (born May 17, 1995) is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of May 6, 2025, she is #9 in the UFC wome ...

was scheduled for the event. However, the bout was postponed to UFC 303 for unknown reasons.

Jeremiah Wells Jeremiah C. Wells (born October 30, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Wells was born in 1986 in West Hazelton, Pennsylvania, a city ...

was expected to face

Niko Price Nicholas Gordon “Niko” Price (born September 29, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised in Cape Coral, Florida, Price attend ...

in a welterweight bout. However, Wells pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by

Alex Morono Alexander Quincy Morono (born August 16, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2010, Morono has also fought for Legacy ...

. Price and Morono previously met at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie in February 2017, with the bout originally ending via second-round knockout for Price, before ultimately being overturned to a no contest due to him testing positive for marijuana.

Su Mudaerji Su Mudaerji ( zh, 苏木达尔基; ; born January 20, 1996), sometimes written as Sumudaerji, is a Chinese professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Flyweight and Bantamweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

and

Joshua Van Joshua Van (born October 10, 2001), is a Burmese and American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the first Burmese fighter to sign with the promotion. As o ...

were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at this event. However, Su pulled out in late April due to undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by Tatsuro Taira. In turn, both fighters were moved to UFC Fight Night: Perez vs. Taira in order to face different opponents. A middleweight bout between

Roman Dolidze Roman Dolidze (born 15 July 1988) is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2016, Dolidze was the former World Warriors F ...

and former LFA Middleweight Champion Anthony Hernandez was scheduled to take place at the event. However, Hernandez was forced out of the bout due to a torn ligament in his hand. Road to UFC Season 2 flyweight winner Park Hyun-sung was expected to face André Lima. However, he pulled out due to a knee injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Nyamjargal Tumendemberel. In turn, Tumendemberel was forced to withdraw from the event due to visa issues and was replaced by Mitch Raposo. At the weigh ins, Lima weighed in at 130 pounds, four pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 30 percent of his purse which went to Raposo.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. *Fight of the Night: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier *Performance of the Night: Islam Makhachev and Kevin Holland

References

{{2024 in mixed martial arts 2024 in UFC June 2024 sports events in the United States Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events 2024 in sports in New Jersey Mixed martial arts events in Newark, New Jersey 2020s in Newark, New Jersey

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References