UFC 302
Review
Main Event only spectacle of the evening
And Still, P4P Champion!
Islam remains dominant
It wasn't meant to be for Dustin Poirier in his third title fight either. In an intense fight, Islam Makhachev even got the finish in the fifth round and remained undisputed champion of the Lightweight Division. But let's start from the beginning.
The fight started intensely, with Islam Makhachev clearly dominating the first round, knocking Poirier to the ground and even having his back for about two minutes. But the Diamond didn't let himself be defeated. In the following rounds, the American showed that he had worked intensively on his takedown defense in fight camp. Surprisingly, the standoff was relatively even; both were able to land good strikes in the clinch and had sustained several cuts by the third round at the latest.
After round 4, two scoreboards read 3-1 Islam and one 2-2. This forced Dustin to show off his boxing and find a finish in the final round. However, that wasn't the case. Instead, Islam managed to take Dustin down one last time with a creative ankle pick with about three minutes left in the round, then finally finished with a D'arce choke.
It was possibly the Diamond's last dance, and he must now bid farewell to his dream of becoming the undisputed champion for the rest of his career. It's also his third title fight, following his defeats by submission against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira. Islam underscored why he is rightfully the pound-for-pound champion, even if Dana White saw it differently (see post-fight press conference).
Lack of spectacle
Sean via "Split"
In the co-main, fans expected a real cracker with Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland. However, the fight only partially lived up to expectations.
Sean Strickland demonstrated his desire to challenge for a title again as soon as possible. He was the one who consistently applied pressure and moved toward Costa. The latter was surprisingly reserved, almost passive. The Brazilian worked with a few leg kicks, but Strickland stood firm in his famous "Philly shell guard" and displayed his strong boxing.
Surprise and almost confusion reigned over the scorecards. Two judges correctly scored the fight in favor of Strickland (4-1 and 5-0), but one judge scored it 4-1 for Costa, which caused considerable anger, including for Dana White. Nevertheless, it was enough for the American to win by split decision.