UFC 302: The last chance for Dustin Poirier

The lightweight belt is on the line in the main event at UFC 302, as Islam Makhachev defends his title against Dustin Poirier in the early hours of Sunday morning Irish time.

With wins over the likes of Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez, alongside an interim title, it has been quite the journey for Poirier.

The one thing that has escaped him however, is the undisputed title. A submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019, was followed by another loss via submission to Charles Oliveria.

He has hinted this could be his final fight, but his knockout victory over Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 shows he can still compete with the next generation in the sport.

Standing in his way of his long-awaited title is Makhachev, who has not lost for eight years and is on a 13 fight-win streak.

Following back-to-back wins over Alexander Volkanovski, including a head kick knockout over the former featherweight champion, Makhachev was made to wait for his next opponent.

Expect him to put pressure on Poirier with his wrestling, and will look for the submission at every opportunity.

If this becomes a striking battle, Poirier will fancy his chances of victory, but as Mackachev showed against Volkanovski, his striking is improving with every fight.

In the co-main event, it is a battle in the middleweight division as former champion Sean Strickland takes on Paulo Costa.

This is the first fight for Strickland since losing the belt to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in a split-decision loss.

In his first step to getting back into title contention, he will face Costa, who is hoping to bounce back from defeat against Robert Whittaker at UFC 298.

As of now, it is unclear what the picture is for the