Sean Strickland, like so many other UFC fighters, is prepared to die inside the Octagon.
I’m not sure a co-main event against Paulo Costa is worth dying for; but hey, whatever gets you into the gym every morning to train, I suppose. “Tarzan” battles “The Eraser” as part of the UFC 302 pay-per-view (PPV) on Sat. night (June 1) inside Prudential Center in Newark.
“UFC 302, man, it’s going to be a bloodbath,” Strickland said during “Countdown to UFC 302” (watch the replay here). “I think that me and Costa, we’re going to go in the deep water. It’s going to be a 25-minute war.”
“I think we’re both going to be looking at each other in that third, fourth round, thinking, ‘f**k, we got one more round.’ But mentally, as always, I’m ready to die for what I want. And I think I’m going to pick him apart.”
Strickland (28-6) is looking to rebound from his decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event earlier this year in Toronto. As for Costa (14-3), he recently dropped a decision to former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 in Anaheim.
For the rest of the UFC 302 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
Anthony Smith isn’t counting out Dustin Poirier’s chances just yet.
Poirier takes his second crack at winning the undisputed lightweight title when he challenges champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in Newark, N.J. “The Diamond” has held an interim title and fought Khabib Nurmagomedov in a unification bout back in September 2019, but Poirier was submitted by Nurmagomedov and is yet to claim the top spot at 155 pounds.
Comparisons between Makhachev and Nurmagomedov are inevitable given that they’ve trained together for ages, so Poirier enters the June 1 clash as a significant underdog. Smith, a light heavyweight contender who also works as an analyst, sees a path to victory for Poirier.
“A better chance than a lot of people are,” Smith said on The MMA Hour when asked about his confidence in a Poirier win. “I think that he’s got a lot of momentum right now. I think that there’s a lot of comparisons with Islam and Khabib, but they’re very, very different fighters. I think the biggest difference is Islam is willing to stand and strike with Dustin, and that gives Dustin a lot of opportunities to do well. If he can move his feet and force Islam-like, Khabib had a different mindset. He would just wade through whatever you were throwing, if he could get a hold of anything, he was going to start climbing it like a snake. He gets a hold of you and he just starts sinking and pulling you in and it just gets worse. It’s like quicksand, it gets deeper and deeper.
“Islam doesn’t really fight like that. Does he have the ability? I don’t know, but his skill set is more diverse, so he’s willing to do more things. I think that opens up a lot of opportunities for Dustin, especially if Dustin can land early and get Islam-he needs him a little bit nervous and have a healthy bit of respect for him coming into range and I think he can be really successful. I think it starts really early, I think you’re going to know right away.”
Nurmagomedov famously went 29-0 as a professional fighter before stepping away from competition in October 2020, and Makhachev has carved out a similar path of dominance with just one loss in 26 bouts. He has won 13 straight fights, including a pair of wins over featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Though Smith believes that Poirier’s best chance of winning is to out-strike Makhachev, few will be surprised if Poirier goes for one of his now-famous guillotine choke attempts, a submission that is yet to yield him a victory.
Smith understands the urge, given that he just logged the first win via guillotine submission in his 57th pro bout, which took place against Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 this past weekend. It was a moment that Smith credits Poirier for inspiring.
“The only reason I thought about was when I was in Miami and Dustin kept saying, ‘You miss every guillotine you don’t jump,’” Smith said. “Then I was just like, ‘F*ck, I don’t have any guillotine finishes in my whole career.’ I don’t even know that I’ve ever jumped one in a fight.
“A few weeks ago, I was talking about it in practice and I’ve been hitting them ever since then. I just keep finding myself in these guillotines and I’ve said it probably 20 times, wouldn’t it be sweet if I got a guillotine? And here we are. Pretty crazy.”
‘Iron’ Mike Tyson suffered a “medical emergency” while aboard a cross-country flight traveling from Miami to Los Angeles.
First reported by In Touch Weekly, the legendary pugilist “became nauseous and dizzy due to an ulcer flare-up 30 minutes before landing.” Initial reports claimed that a two-hour delay in the flight taking off from Miami was related to Tyson’s medical issue.
However, a representative for the former unified heavyweight world champion revealed that the delay was due to an air conditioning issue and unrelated to Tyson.
Thankfully Mr. Tyson is doing great,” Tyson’s representatives told The New York Post in an email. “He became nauseous and dizzy due to an ulcer flare-up 30 minutes before landing. He is appreciative to the medical staff that were there to help him. However, it’s false reporting that his medical attention caused the flight delay. This two hour delay was due to air conditioning issue on the aircraft.
As the plane was minutes away from landing in Los Angeles, passengers were asked to remain in their seats so that paramedics could board the vessel and tend to Tyson.
“He was in first class, but we were in an exit row and the stewardess was very chatty. They asked us to stay on the plane and landed so paramedics could enter,” a source told In Touch Weekly. “She said something like, ‘He’s a really important passenger so we wanna make sure he’s OK.’ I knew it was him, but I just mouthed the words ‘Mike Tyson’ and she nodded her head yes.”
Jake Paul Responds to claims that his fight with Mike Tyson is off
Luckily, it sounds like Tyson will be fine, but the news is sure to amplify the already-existing concerns surrounding his impending clash with Jake Paul on July 20. Tyson is scheduled to compete in his first professional boxing match since 2005 when he steps inside the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas just a few weeks removed from his 58th birthday.
As news of Tyson’s medical issue spread across social media, reports immediately began claiming that his bout with ‘The Problem Child’ was canceled. Paul was quick to quell those claims, writing: “You love to make sh*t up before knowing the facts for clicks/likes. Nothing changed.”
Tyson vs. Paul will air live on Netflix, a first for the streaming giant and its 260 million subscribers around the world.
On the first episode of UFC 302 Embedded, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev predicts a big finish against Dustin Poirier, Sean Strickland talks about the importance of bringing passion to the gym, Paulo Costa finds his rhythm, Dustin Poirier trains with Thiago Alves, and more.
Dustin Poirier (center right) and team | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Dustin Poirier takes his third stab at becoming undisputed lightweight champion when he faces Islam Makhachev in the UFC 301 main event on Saturday.
The title fight happens just under five years removed from Poirier’s first crack at the belt, which came against Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2019. That fight ended when Nurmagomedov secured grappling superiority over Poirier and locked in a rear-naked choke to finish the job in the third round.
Now Poirier has to figure out how to get past Makhachev, a fighter often compared to Nurmagomedov. Considering they’ve been teammates and training partners throughout their entire careers, and both employ a ground-heavy style to maul most of their opponents, it’s an understandable parallel.
Mike Brown, who coached Poirier against Nurmagomedov and will do the same for the Makhachev fight in June, understands why the Russians might seem like mirror images of each other, but he promises that’s not exactly the case.
“Similar styles, but the techniques they use are quite different,” Brown told MMA Fighting. “I think Islam uses a lot more upper body trips and Khabib took a lot more shots. I think Islam’s striking looks maybe sharper, looks cleaner, but it’s not to say Khabib’s striking wasn’t effective. Sometimes he was maybe a little unconventional, but he wasn’t a bad striker.
“There’s been times where [Nurmagomedov] was criticized but he was winning. The famous case when he was kind of criticized in the Al Iaquinta fight, but he was winning those rounds striking even though it kind of looked a little unorthodox. That’s just some guys’ style. Not everybody fights the exact same way. There are differences.”
Brown acknowledges that the ultimate goal for Nurmagomedov and Makhachev typically ended the same, with a takedown followed by vicious ground-and-pound, multiple submission attempts, or sometimes both.
That much is true, but Brown won’t look at Makhachev through the exact same lens he did for Nurmagomedov.
“Similarities in their game plan, where for the most part, they’re looking to take you down and maul you for five rounds,” Brown said. “They both have really good conditioning and they’re good at it. But how they do it is a little bit different.”
Because Poirier came up short in two previous bids at becoming undisputed champion, and now approaches his 36th birthday next year, many believe this could be his final opportunity to claim a UFC title.
It’s impossible to predict that with any level of certainty, because even Poirier would likely admit he probably didn’t expect a title shot after falling to Justin Gaethje by knockout back in July 2023, and then beating a lower-ranked opponent in Benoit Saint Denis in March.
Brown acknowledged that Poirier’s lifetime achievements likely played a part in this particular opportunity, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In the past nine years since becoming a lightweight, Poirier has earned 11 post-fight bonuses, including seven for Fight of the Night. He’s headlined 11 different events, including six pay-per-views.
Poirier has also remained one of the most popular and well-liked fighters on the entire roster, which definitely counts for something.
“Nobody deserves it more than this guy,” Brown said. “He’s put in the time, he’s put in the miles. He’s done the work. Battle-tested, 100 percent against the toughest guys. The most world champions that I think anybody’s ever fought. This guy has fought the who’s who of the lightweight division, the featherweight division.”
With only a couple of weeks remaining until the fight happens, Brown knows Poirier is pouring everything into his preparation, and he expects this will be the moment when the Louisiana native can finally celebrate becoming an undisputed UFC champion.
“Third time’s the charm,” Brown said. “He’s got nothing to lose and I think that he’s very confident. He is very dangerous. Every time he steps out there, it’s 25 hard-hitting minutes. This guy comes in shape, he’s got some of the best conditioning I think in the sport. He hits hard as hell. He’s got a wealth of experience. A wealth of title experience, five-rounders.
“This guy is ready. This guy is ready for any style, any body type. He’s seen it all, and more often than not, he’s coming out on top. We’ll see which side the coin lands on, but this guy wins a lot of them.”
Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev puts his title on the line against former interim titleholder Dustin Poirier in the UFC 302 main event on June 1. The two haven’t fought before but Makhachev has closely studied Poirier in the past.
When Poirier fought Makhachev’s coach and mentor, former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, at UFC 242 in September 2019, Makhachev helped Nurmagomedov prepare for the fight. He was also involved in setting the game plan for Nurmagomedov to defeat “The Diamond.”
“When Khabib was preparing for him, we trained together, and I was already involved in the discussion of the fight preparation plan against Dustin. I don’t think the preparation and plan for the fight will differ much because we know Dustin’s strengths and weaknesses,” Makhachev said in a YouTube video.
Makhachev and Nurmagomedov’s roles have switch with Nurmagomedov now assisting Makhachev in his preparations to defend his title against Poirier. While Nurmagomedov and Makhachev respect Poirier’s abilities and legacy, they plan to use the same blueprint that Nurmagomedov employed back in 2019. Nurmagomedov finished Poirier in the third round, and he hopes Makhachev will do the same.
“Many people underestimate Dustin Poirier,” Nurmagomedov said in the video. “I personally fought him, spent three rounds and over 10 minutes with him, and I have a good sense of his strengths and weaknesses. We are working hard on these aspects.”
“Dustin is very experienced. He’s been in many battles already,” Nurmagomedov continued. “Yes, he has lost, but he also has many victories in the UFC, more than 22 or 23 wins. Using our slang, he’s a seasoned warrior. You can’t take him lightly. We have great respect for Dustin, but on June 1, he is our opponent. We have a clearly developed plan for the fight, and I believe Islam will follow it. I really hope that Islam will finish him off in the second or third round.”
![Charles Oliveira doesn't see Arman as a big threat to Makhachev: "Arman is a guy that takes you down and holds you there the entire time... No way [he beats Islam]. It’s not a fight he can win.... I think Islam is way more experienced, has more focus, more hunger, and is much stronger than Arman."](https://external-preview.redd.it/ZFbkRrL7ddIm9jgfXCLGRf1UDAjaEjMCGhEET3r1R-A.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=230f37c41f12161a20eb9b00fb89820d9b93c9c6 "Charles Oliveira doesn't see Arman as a big threat to Makhachev: \"Arman is a guy that takes you down and holds you there the entire time... No way [he beats Islam]. It’s not a fight he can win.... I think Islam is way more experienced, has more focus, more hunger, and is much stronger than Arman.\"")
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