Tag: UFC 302

Video: Dustin Poirier receives warm hometown welcome even after UFC 302 title-fight loss

It wasn’t with an undisputed UFC championship belt around his waist, but Dustin Poirier still received warm welcome from Lafayette.

It wasn’t with an undisputed UFC championship belt around his waist or over his shoulder, but [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] still received warm welcome from his hometown in Louisiana.

Poirier fought hard this past Saturday but ultimately fell to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who grinded through almost 25 full minutes before winning by late fifth-round submission. Although Poirier once held a UFC interim title at 155 pounds, the loss marked his third time coming up short at claiming undisputed gold after two previous losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira.

Still, that didn’t stop a large gathering of fans to greet him at the airport in Lafayette, including local TV news crews.

Check out the videos below:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Grant Dawson eyes Jalin Turner matchup after UFC 302: ‘He beat the guy that beat me’

Grant Dawson got back in the win column on the heels of a KO loss to Bobby Green, which was his first setback in more than seven years.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag] beat Joe Solecki with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Dawson, who got back in the win column on the heels of a knockout loss to Bobby Green in October, which was his first setback in more than seven years.

Andre Lima talks nerves during split decision, regret for UFC 302 weight miss

Andre Lima missed weight by four pounds for his fight with Mitch Raposo, which then wound up with an odd scorecard.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Andre Lima[/autotag] beat Mitch Raposo with a split decision Saturday to open the preliminary card at UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Lima, who missed weight by four pounds.

Roman Kopylov ready for busy second half of 2024 – if it’s in UFC’s top 15

Roman Kopylov went to a decision for the first time in more than eight years, but got a crucial win over Cesar Almeida.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Roman Kopylov[/autotag] beat Cesar Almeida with a split decision Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Kopylov, who got back in the win column after his four-fight winning streak was snapped in February.

Bassil Hafez wants eventual Jack Della Maddalena rematch after first UFC win

Bassil Hafez beat Mickey Gall for his first UFC win. Now he’s starting to think about getting back his first UFC loss.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Bassil Hafez[/autotag] beat Mickey Gall with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Hafez, who called out Jack Della Maddalena, whom he lost to nearly a year ago by split decision.

Randy Brown calls out Geoff Neal after fun win over Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos at UFC 302

Randy Brown will keep grinding if he has to, but really wants an opponent in the top 15 next to start building a legacy.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag] beat Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the main card at UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Brown, who called for a fight with Geoff Neal after his win.

Stephen A. Smith: Conor McGregor ‘has no business being in the octagon’ with Islam Makhachev

There’s just no way we should ever see Conor McGregor fight Islam Makhachev, according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

[autotag]Stephen A. Smith[/autotag] does not want to see [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] fight UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag].

Coach Javier Mendez said he’d like Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) to fight McGregor sometime after McGregor brought light to the staph infection he endured during his UFC 302 training camp. Makhachev wound up submitting Dustin Poirier this past Saturday to retain his title in what turned out to be a grueling main event.

McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is expected to return June 29 against Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event, with many believing a title shot could be his if he’s victorious.

“Conor goes and starts on a rant, starting to create drama with Islam,” Mendez told Red Corner MMA. “Which is kind of good because Conor’s the kind of guy you want to root against or root for. Regardless, everybody wants to see him, Me, I want to see him get beat by Islam.

“So, for me, him doing what he’s doing is causing a lot of attention, so there wouldn’t be nothing better for me and Khabib (Nurmagomedov) than to have Islam have a fight with him somewhere down the line. He brought that staph up, which is very observant on his part, to be honest with you. The only thing is that he observed it way too late. At the time he mentioned it, it was already three weeks past.”

However, after seeing Khabib Nurmagomedov dominate and submit McGregor in their title fight in 2018, Smith believes McGregor should want no part of Makhachev.

“I was in Vegas for the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight,” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take” (h/t Championship Rounds). “It was one of the greatest events I’ve ever attended in my life. It was unreal.

“But what we learned in that fight is that Conor McGregor has no business being in the octagon against a grappler, which is what Makhachev (is). This brother right here is something special, and he’s not going to try and strike against Conor McGregor.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Jake Matthews hates decision wins like UFC 302, but wants a test vs. Neil Magny

Jake Matthews has alternated wins and losses his past seven fights, but has a big callout in hopes of a winning streak.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Jake Matthews[/autotag] beat Phil Rowe with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Take a look inside the fight with Matthews, who has alternated wins and losses his past seven fights going back nearly four years.

Sean Strickland blames ‘awkward’ UFC 302 fight on Paulo Costa: ‘What the f*ck are we doing here?’

Sean Strickland wasn’t happy with the way thing played out in his win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302.

NEWARK, N.J. – [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] is the first to admit his decision win over [autotag]Paulo Costa[/autotag] wasn’t a very entertaining fight.

The former UFC middleweight champion was critical of the way things played out in his co-main event bout at UFC 302 on Saturday. Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) was happy to get his hand raised and bounce back from his championship loss earlier this year, but was disappointed to not give fans a war. He believes it mainly came down to Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC).

“It was awkward, man. It was like a weird fight,” Strickland told reporters at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference. “There was a moment where I stopped being in my fight stance and I just started walking forward like, ‘What the f*ck are we doing here?'”

Strickland can’t pinpoint exactly what happened with Costa that caused the lackluster fight. His guess is that Costa, who has a history of putting on Fight of the Night performances, was just not up for fighting that night.

“He did land calf kicks, but for every one calf kick he landed, I landed like five teeps,” Strickland said. “His stomach showed more damage than my calf did. It was just a weird f*cking fight, man. I don’t know what was going on with Costa. I think Costa maybe just wanted to be friends. I don’t know.

“… You can never tell how good somebody is until they fight somebody good. I think there was that moment where every time Costa was like, ‘I’m going to fight this man,’ he gets stuck in that phase like, ‘I don’t think I want to fight this man today.’ So I think a lot of it just is you never know how good somebody is until they fight somebody good, and that’s what you saw there.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Daniel Cormier urges Dustin Poirier not to retire after UFC 302: ‘He’s got a lot of money to be made’

Daniel Cormier advises Dustin Poirier against retirement after UFC 302.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] advises [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] against retirement after UFC 302.

Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) fell short in his third shot at undisputed gold when he was submitted by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) in this past Saturday’s headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

After losing to Makhachev, Poirier said that may have been his final fight. Cormier doesn’t like hearing Poirier ponder retirement, and sees many big money fights for him outside of the belt.

“I don’t want to see him go,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t know that he should go. I think that what Dustin Poirier should do is take the big fights. He’s such an attraction now in the world of fighting that he’s got a lot of money to be made, but also a lot of big fights to be had.

“He’s only 35 years old, so he can do this for a long time. Maybe don’t fight as frequently, but continue to make that walk because once you’re done, you’re done and you can’t come back from it.”

Cormier also lauded Poirier for the way he fought against Makhachev. ‘The Diamond” showed improved takedown defense, but was ultimately submitted in Round 5.

“He fought as good in losing as he’s fought in a really long time,” Cormier said. “I think that he was better (Saturday) than he was against Benoit Saint Denis, and that’s a credit to him and his coaching staff. I thought he fought well.

“Clearly, you lose, yes, there’s some disappointment. But overall, I think Dustin Poirier is going to be very proud of his performance in the octagon. But if this is it, congrats DP, man. You did something many could never have expected you to do.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.