7 months after defeating Alexander Volkanovski, Islam Makhachev will continue to enter a defense of UFC Championship Lightweight. According to the official announcement from UFC, Russian boxers will encounter Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. This is also the focal match of the event.
In the UFC arena, Makhachev has a series of 13 consecutive victories. After defeating Charles Oliveira to win the championship, Makhachev successfully defended it twice. Those were the victories against Volkanovski in 2023. These are also the reason Makhachev will have other competitors in 2024.
UFC 302's schedule is also beneficial for Makhachev at this time. As Muslims, Makhachev needs to obey the law in the month of Ramadan. However, this period had closed 2 months before UFC 302 officially took place. That helps Makhachev have the best preparation.
On the side of Dustin Poirier, the chance of coming to England after this boxer defeated Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. Other boxers in the Lightweight weight class like Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje have just competed at UFC 300. Therefore, they can not continue to play immediately.
In the past, Poirier had once held the temporary championship UFC weight lightweight. He lost in the unified match when encountering Khabib Nurmagomedov, who used to be a coach for Makhachev. Poirier then continued to lose in a match against Charles Oliveira.
In addition to the confrontation between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier, UFC 302 also witnessed another fascinating pair in the MIDLEWEIGHT. The former Sean Strickland champion will return to the match against Paulo Costa. The winner will likely have the right to challenge the Dricus Du Plessis champion.