With 13 events slated for the night, the UFC is coming back to New Jersey. After over a year since a UFC PPV event last held in the state, New Jersey will host some of the best UFC fighters. The last time New Jersey hosted a UFC PPV event was on May 6, 2023, at UFC 288. Aljamain Sterling vs Henry Cejudo was the night's main event as Sterling retained his bantamweight title by split decision. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Sterling, while the other judge favored Cejudo with a 48-47 score.
Where and When is UFC 302?
UFC 302 is scheduled at the home of National Hockey League side New Jersey Devils, the Prudential Center in Newark. The event, which includes a championship title, will be held on June 1, 2024. This will be the 10th UFC event in this arena since it was opened in 2007. The main fight to look out for is the lightweight title duel between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. The co-main event is a five-round middleweight fight between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa.
The event starts at 6 p.m. and includes bouts in the lightweight, middleweight, welterweight, flyweight, heavyweight, and women's bantamweight divisions. Ailin Perez will face Joselyne Edwards in the Women's Bantamweight contest, which could go either way. Edwards has a 13-5-0 record against Perez's 9-2-0. However, Edwards has only won four of her seven UFC fights, while Perez has two wins from three.
Over 10 different sportsbooks have provided odds for each fight. Poirier is challenging Makhachev for the lightweight title and goes into the contest as an underdog. According to many of these NJ sports betting apps, including bet365, FanDuel, and Caesars, Strickland is the favorite to win the co-main event. Strickland currently ranks No. 1 in the middleweight ranking. He's behind only Dricus Du Plessis, who is the current middleweight champion. The American has a 28-6-0 record against Costa's 14-3-0. A win for Costa will see him move up the middleweight ranking.
Makhachev vs Poirier Preview
Makhachev is the favorite to win this fight, as he is on a 13-win streak and has a 25-1-0 record. His only loss came in 2015 against Adriano Martins in UFC 192, when he was knocked out in a fight that lasted only 1:46 minutes.
Despite being the favorite going into the bout, Makhachev will be up against an experienced opponent in Poirier. Poirier is ranked No. 4 in the lightweight ranking and has a 30-8-0 record. Poirier is a former interim lightweight champion after defeating Max Holloway at UFC 236 in April 2019. However, he failed in his previous two attempts to become the lightweight champion, submitting to Khabib Nurmagomedov in September 2019 at UFC 242 and Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in December 2021. He lost both fights through submission to a rear-naked choke. Poirier has been inconsistent recently, winning three and losing two of his last five bouts. If he wants to defeat Makhachev, he may need to up his game.
