The UFC is set to return to Newark, New Jersey, with UFC 302 headlined by a lightweight title bout between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. The event will be available to watch through various platforms, including Pay-Per-View on ESPN+ for the main card, ESPN 2 and ESPN+ for the preliminary card, and UFC Fight Pass for the early preliminary card. The full card features exciting matchups such as the middleweight bout between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa, as well as a welterweight bout between Randy Brown and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
This will be the 10th UFC event in Newark, with the last event taking place at the Prudential Center where Aljamain Sterling successfully defended his bantamweight title. UFC 302 will see the debut of new gloves unveiled earlier this year, with champions like Makhachev wearing gold gloves and others sporting a gunmetal color for three-round fights. The new gloves have received mixed reviews from fighters, with some criticizing their performance. It will be interesting to see how the new equipment performs in live combat.
In the main event, Dustin Poirier will be looking to become the UFC lightweight champion by dethroning Makhachev. Poirier is coming off a spectacular KO win in his last fight and has expressed the possibility of retirement following this bout. If Poirier can upset the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the sport, it would be a storybook ending to his career. However, a loss could mean a difficult path back to the top of the highly competitive 155-pound division.
Makhachev, on the other hand, is looking to solidify his status as a great champion by defending his title against Poirier. There is talk that Makhachev may move up to welterweight in the future to attempt to become a two-division champion if he emerges victorious. The co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa is also expected to be an exciting matchup, with both fighters looking to bounce back from recent losses and make a statement in the middleweight division.
UFC 302 has seen some changes to the lineup, with Alexander Volkov being rescheduled for a different fight, and Jailton Almeida now facing Romanov. Almeida will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat and make a statement in his fight. Michelle Waterson-Gomez was also rescheduled for a different event, but the current card for UFC 302 remains solid and promises to kick off the summer months of events in an exciting way. Stay tuned for more updates and breakdowns of the fights on Saturday night.
