UFC 302 – Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier LIVE: Start time, fight card, scorecards and updates as Donald Trump arrives to see Nurmagomedov’s protege defend his lightweight title

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: What was advertised as a slugfest in the middleweight division is off to a slow start to the crowd’s expense.

Two rounds into the co-main event, Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa are comfortable feeling each other out, throwing little to no significant strikes. However, the Newark crowd is not too pleased and is making it known.

Strickland continues to push to pace and march forward as Costa answers most of his combinations with shots of his own

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland’s walkout was accompanied by loud cheers as the crowd in Newark erupted for the American.

Strickland faces Paulo Costa in the co-headliner in his first showing since losing the title to Dricus Du Plessis.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: Kevin Holland made quick work of Michael Oleksiejczuk in their middleweight meeting.

After locking in a tight arm bar in the first round, referee Herb Dean had to save the Polish fighter from a broken arm as he refused to submit.

Holland quickly jumped out of the cage, shook Donald Trump’s hand and shared a few words with the former president after the victory. While Trump kept his cool, Holland was over the moon as UFC chief Dana White smiled in the background.

LEO CALLAO: Crowd favorite Kevin Holland controlled the audience during his walkout at Prudential Center as he danced his way to the Octagon.

The No 15 ranked middleweight looks to turn around from his UFC 299 loss to Michael Venom Page with a win over Michael Oleksiejczuk in Newark.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: Nico Price’s takedowns proved sufficient to earn him 29-28s across the board against Alex Morono.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: Welterweights Niko Price and Alex Morono’s fight appears to be a coin toss after two decent rounds of puzzling grappling exchanges.

Both have found success on their feet, both also had their moments on the ground, which were initiated by Price’s takedowns.

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is back on Islam Makhachev’s corner as he defends the title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.

After missing his teammate and successor’s fight against Alexander Volkanovski in 2023, The Eagle explained that he completely stepped away from MMA, including cornering duties for Makhachev.

Nurmagomedov submitted Poirier in 2019 and fought Justin Gaethje before retiring at 29-0.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: After surviving multiple submission attempts, Randy ‘Rude Boy’ Brown earned a 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards to get a unanimous decision.

The New Jersey crowd cheered on as the main card kicked off with a banger.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: After a competitive first round, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos controlled Randy Brown on the ground for most of the second.

Rude Boy was able to defend his opponents submission attempts and ended the round on top. The bout may very well be 1-1 as the crowd is pleased with the fighters.

LEO CALLAO: After former US President Donald Trump’s walkout capped off the prelims, the UFC 302 crowd has been fired up going into the main card.

Chants of ‘U-S-A’ rained down as Trump’s entrance was followed by Sean Strickland’s arrival on the big screen.

Shortly after, Theo Vonn and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers were featured on the screen and also received an ovation.

Chants of ‘we want Trump’ and ‘f**k Joe Biden’ could be heard as the first main card fight between Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos and Randy Brown opened.

Donald Trump is in the building

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: With a combination of effective striking and active ground control, Roman Kopylov earned all but one judgenods against Cesar Almeida. Despite the crowd chanting ‘stand them up’ in the third round, Kopylov stuck with the game get two judges’ nods.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: The crowd erupted as MMA legend Mark Coleman was featured on the big screen.

The UFC Hall of Famer nearly lost his life after saving his parents from a house fire in March. The 59-year-old has since recovered and sat cage side at UFC 300 and 302.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: Jailton Almedia made quick work of Alexandr Romanov in their heavyweight showdown.

After scoring a takedown seconds into the fight, the Brazilian stayed on top and transitioned to his opponent’s back to secure a first round rear naked choke finish.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: After opening the fight with a failed flying-knee attempt, Grant Dawson used his dominant wrestling and stayed on top of Joe Solecki for majority of the contest.

Boos rained down from the crowd as Solecki frustratedly fought on his back for nearly 15 minutes. Nevertheless, Dawson’s game plan earned him a unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.

LEO CALLAO IN NEW JERSEY: The Prudential Center began filling up during the early prelims, in which hometown hero Mickey Gall put on a show despite losing to Bassil Hafez.

The New Jersey crowd has been actively cheering through the preliminary fights chants for UFC Chief Dana White repeatedly echoing around the arena.

The Jets quarterback has taken his seat in the arena. He’s expected to be joined by former President Donald Trump.

No sign of the Donald yet, though.

In the first prelim bout of the night, Australia’s Jake Matthews kept American Phil Rowe at bay to earn a unanimous decision win.

Matthews controlled the tempo with effective striking for 15 minutes, not allowing Rowe to get his momentum. Rowe landed 36 percent of his strikes to Matthews’ 47 percent. The judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27 in Matthews’ favour.

Thank you for joining us for our coverage of UFC 302 in New Jersey.

We will have all the action live ahead of the main event, when Islam Makhachev takes on Dustin Poirier!