UFC 302 went down Saturday night from the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday night. Islam Makhachev successfully defended his lightweight title for a UFC record third time in a stiff test from Dustin Poirier. Sean Strickland cemented his status as the likely next middleweight title challenger with a solid victory over Paulo Costa. Read on for a recap of the main card.
Islam Makhachev submits Dustin Poirer via fifth round d'arce choke
Islam Makhachev is hailed by the MMA cognoscenti as possibly the greatest lightweight in UFC's history. As a reminder, Seattle Fights prides itself on often contradicting the prevailing MMA community narrative. Perhaps Max Holloway said it best when asserting that the Dagestani great prefers to fight 145 pound fighters while complaining that nobody wants to fight him yet rarely making himself available to fight by restricting his availability to fight to certain times of the year.
In this fight, Dustin Poirier provided a stiff test and put a dent in Makhachev's aura of invincibility before eventually succumbing to the Dagestani's relentless grappling. Makhachev won the opening round by landing an early takedown attempt and controlling Poirier the remainder of the round despite not threatening seriously with a submission, nor doing much damage via strikes.
A close second round likely went Poirier's way as he started to have success with his striking and quickly got up from a takedown and defended other attempts from the Dagestani wrestler. The Diamond had another strong round in the third frame but an unfortunate clash of heads left Poirier bleeding and compromised from the accidental contact.
Makhachev, who is not a popular champion due multiple factors including his extreme arrogance, lack of charisma and sometimes boring fighting style clearly had doubts during moments in the third and fourth rounds as Poirer had more success defending numerous takedown attempts while also landing damaging strikes on the Russian.
Entering the final round, Poirier needed a finish as two judges had the Louisiana native down three rounds to one (the other had it 2-2). Poirier, increasing in confidence throughout the fight, threw big strikes to open the frame, but the beginning of the end started with a takedown converted by Makhachev off of an ankle pick. The d'arce choke was applied tightly and drew a quick tap from the Diamond, who said aftet the fight that he briefly went unconscious as the referee was stopping the bout.
Makhachev called for a shot at Leon Edwards' 170 pound belt during his in-cage post-fight interview. That seems a recipe for a legacy tainting result with the much bigger Edwards unlikely to yield takedowns. Better for Makhachev to work on his legacy by fighting Arman Tsarukyan who gave the Russian all he could handle back in April 2019 in an extremely close fight.
Sean Strickland outclasses Paulo Costa over five rounds to stay the middleweight top contender
Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland stated his case for another crack at the 185 pound strap with a vintage performance against Paulo Costa. One judge inexplicably scored the bout for Costa 49-46, with two judges overruling that score by 49-46 and 50-45 scores for "Tarzan".
Costa had success early in the fight landing some hard low leg kicks, but the ever forward moving Strickland wasn't deterred and used his jab and excellent striking defense as he walked down Borrachina. Costa also had a strong fifth round as he was able to fight more aggressively knowing it was the last round.
The problem for Costa is that he was unable to ever hurt Strickland and thwart the American's relentless pressure and steady attack. Costa rose to a title fight based on dominant performances built on forward pressure followed by power flurries with his opponent against the fence. But at the commentary team astutely pointed out, the Brazilian has been unable to implement that plan since the title loss to Israel Adesanya and simply hasn't been the same fighter since that fight. Costa is still a bog name though and should serve as a good test for any middleweight looking to crack the top end of the division.
Strickland, meanwhile, stated his claim to a title shot based off him being a "company man" by fighting the much lower No. 7 ranked Costa.
Kevin Holland breaks Michal Oleksiejczuk's arm for first round submission
Michal Oleksiejczuk landed a big right hand to open the first round causing Kevin Holland back up and moments later the Polish fighter landed a massive left hand that caused "Trailblazer" to fall backward to the canvas. But "Trailblazer" immediately recovered and attacked an armbar that he soon worked into a deep position.
Oleksiejczuk, to either his credit or foolishness, refused to tap and "Big Mouth" then repositioned to put maximum leverage and proceeded to snap Oleksiejczuk's arm.
Holland, a fan favorite due to his willingness to fight anyone on short notice either at middleweight or welterweight, called himself the "ultimate gatekeeper" after the fight. He is anything but as he likely will continue to get big fights moving forward.
Niko Price takes unanimous decision win against Alex Morono
Niko Price and Alex Morono put on an entertaining fight with Morono fighting on short notice after Jeremiah Wells pulled out due to undisclosed reasons. Price had previously beaten Morono in 2017 via knockout in a result that was later overturned due to a positive marijuana test. Price bounced back with a solid win, although Morono clearly tired due to the short notice. Price, in his last fight, suffered a brutal knockout loss in Robbie Lawler's retirement bout at UFC 290 last July.
Randy Brown continues his solid run with unanimous decision over Elias Zaleski dos Santos
Randy Brown is one of those fighters it has been a pleasure to watch develop and mature in the octagon. Rude Boy has been guilty in the past of not using his outstanding reach but recently has improved his striking and is now a serious problem at welterweight.
Brown won this bout 29-28 on all three judge's scorecards despite a solid test from dos Santos. Brown has now won three in a row as he looks to establish himself among the ranked contenders at 170.
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