Islam Makhachev-Dustin Poirier, Sean Strickland-Paulo Costa Top UFC 302 Lineup

Islam Makhachev’s next title defense will come against Dustin Poirier in the UFC 302 main event.

UFC CEO Dana White announced the booking during the UFC 300 post-fight press conference on Saturday night. UFC 302 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on June 1. Meanwhile, a five-round clash pitting Sean Strickland against Paulo Costa will serve as the evening’s middleweight co-headliner.

Makhachev will carry a 13-bout UFC winning streak into the matchup with Poirier. The Dagestani standout last appeared at UFC 294, where he scored a first-round knockout of ex-featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski this past October.

This will mark Poirier’s third attempt at capturing undisputed lightweight gold after falling to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019 and to Charles Oliveira in December 2021. “The Diamond” is coming off a second-round KO of Benoit St. Denis at UFC 299 on March 9.

Strickland will be fighting for the first time since relinquishing the middleweight crown to Dricus Du Plessis in a split-decision defeat at UFC 297. Prior to that, the Xtreme Couture member had won three straight bouts, claiming the 185-pound belt with an upset of Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Costa, meanwhile, has lost three of his last four UFC appearances. In his last outing, “Borrachinha” gave a spirited effort in a decision loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 on Feb. 17.