Dustin Poirier is a former interim UFC lightweight champion. The 35-year-old is currently the No. 4 ranked lightweight in the UFC and his next opponent has been revealed.
Poirier holds the distinction of being the only fighter to defeat Conor McGregor twice inside the UFC Octagon. The Diamond knocked out McGregor inside two rounds at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi last January 24, 2021. Six months later, Poirier defeated the Notorious again at UFC 264 in Las Vegas. In that bout, the referee stopped the fight at the end of the first round after McGregor suffered a broken tibia and was unable to continue fighting.
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Since then, Poirier has gone 2-2 in his last four bouts. But after defeating up-and-coming contender Benoit Saint Denis via second-round knockout in his most recent bout at UFC 299, Poirier has earned a third title shot.
After UFC 300, UFC President Dana White announced two big fights. The first was the long-awaited showdown between McGregor and former Bellator lightweight king Michael Chandler on 29 June at UFC 303. The other was a lightweight title bout between champion Islam Makhachev and Poirier one event earlier at UFC 302.
UFC 302 is scheduled to take place on 2 June 2024, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event will feature an 8-fight main card with the five-round championship showdown between Makhachev and Poirier headlining the event.
Makhachev won the UFC lightweight title by submitting former champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 last 22 October 2022. He successfully defended the belt twice last year, beating former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in back-to-back bouts at UFC 284 and UFC 294.
Islam has an impressive record of 25-1 with five knockouts and 11 victories via submission. The Dagestani fighter has not lost since his second promotional appearance at UFC 192 where he suffered a shocking first-round knockout loss to Brazilian Adriano Martins.
Meanwhile, Poirier is 30-8 with 15 knockouts and 8 submission victories. The Diamond also owns notable victories over former UFC champions Anthony Pettis, Eddie Alvarez, and Max Holloway. In his first attempt at the UFC lightweight belt, Poirier was choked out by Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242. The Diamond was also submitted during his second attempt, losing to Charles Oliveira at UFC UFC 269.