Biggest Winners, Loser From UFC 302

UFC 302 went down last night (Sat., June 1, 2024 ) inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which saw Islam Makhachev retain his Lightweight title by defeating Dustin Poirier via fifth-round submission (see it again here). In the co-main event, Sean Strickland defeated Paulo Costa via a rather confusing split-decision (it should’ve been unanimous).

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Biggest Winner: Islam Makhachev

Makhachev secured his third Lightweight title defense by dominating Dustin Poirier through four rounds before ultimately putting the final touches on his dominant outing by submitting “The Diamond” with a d’arce choke in the fifth and final round. Afterward, the pound-for-pound king asked for a Welterweight title fight, though I think it’s too soon after his first defense against a true 155-pound fighter (his other two came against Alexander Volkanovski). Nevertheless, Makhachev can celebrate his latest win as his stock goes up tremendously and possibly waiting for a challenge against Arman Tsarukyan. A few more wins like this and he may convince Dana White to change his mind about this.

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Runner Up: Kevin Holland

Holland is one of the greatest mysteries on the UFC roster. Is he a Middleweight, a Welterweight, a contender or a gatekeeper? If you ask him, he is all of the above. “Trailblazer” snapped his two-fight losing streak by picking up his first win in a year thanks to an arm-snapping submission win over Michał Oleksiejczuk in the very first round. It’s Holland’s willingness to jump up and down divisions to take on any and all comers is what makes him a fan (and company) favorite. To make his night event better, the man Dana White dubbed “big mouth” at one point secured another $50,000 post-fight bonus award.

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Biggest Losers: Paulo Costa and Alex Morono

Let’s keep it real, both of these men had some rather uninspiring performances. Alex Morono looked out of shape and gassed after the first round and simply didn’t offer up much offense toward Niko Price. By the third round, Morono was breathing heavy and simply trying to maintain long enough to make it through the fight, ultimately losing a unanimous decision. As for Costa, his performance against Sean Strickland was rather uninspiring to say the least as he, too, didn’t do much in the co-main event. The hulking Brazilian — who was soaking wet with sweat by round three — had to muster up enough to make it through five rounds. While he did make it through the 25-minute scrap, he left much to be desired because he was too gun-shy, and he has now lost two straight and is a dreadful 1-4 in his last five fights.

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