UFC 302: Five Things We Learned
UFC 302 was a poor pay-per-view that was saved by an interesting main event between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. That bout leaves some massive takeaways that are worth discussing. The remainder of the card leaves enough points of intrigue to find a few lessons. Let’s recap UFC 302 and discuss the five biggest lessons we learned from the event.
Islam Makhachev looked human
The UFC 302 main event was a close bout between Makhachev and Poirier. The challenger exceeded expectations, but the champion retained the belt after landing a D’Arce choke in the final round. On Makhachev’s side of the bout, he looked much more human than most expected.
In Mackachev’s career, he has looked unbeatable a good portion of the time. Still, this bout and his first bout against Alexander Volkanovski showed he can struggle.
Poirier did a decent job at defending takedowns and staying safe on the ground. It was not a perfect performance, but it was not as one-sided as many people, including myself, predicted. Makhachev ran into grappling struggles despite Poirier struggling against other elite grapplers.
I do not want to go too hard on Makhachev. The striking exchanges were close and he looked good in that realm. He deserves a lot of credit for that. In addition, there are rumors that he was dealing with a staph infection.
The overall point here is that Makhachev is beatable. It certainly is not an easy feat; however, for a long time, he was viewed as unbeatable. That is untrue.
Dustin Poirier puts on a better performance than expected
On the challenger’s side of the UFC 302 main event, Poirier gave Makhachev a fight when many assumed he was completely outmatched. Despite not winning the belt, he deserves credit for his performance.
In his three title fights, Poirier lost all three by submission. Although, in his most recent chance, he defended a lot of takedowns and stayed safe when Makhachev worked to his back. At 35, Poirier showed far better defensive grappling in comparison to his previous outings. On top of that, Poirier had success in the striking exchanges. That makes sense considering the matchup, but he did not completely abandon his striking to defend Makhachev’s grappling.
It is unclear if Poirier will continue to compete in MMA. If that bout was his last ride, it was a respectable way to go out.
Sean Strickland fights like Sean Strickland
As we recap UFC 302, this point should not be considered a lesson, but here we are. In the co-main event, Sean Strickland won a split decision against Paulo Costa. Let’s just say the bout did not entertain fans, either.
I do not understand what people expect of Strickland. It does not take a genius to look at his resume and see that nine of his last 12 fights went to decision. A portion of those are events that people didn’t watch because they did not want to see Strickland fight for five rounds. I don’t know how he did it, but Strickland has convinced the MMA community that he is going to war every time he steps into the octagon. It’s amazing considering he has never been in a highly entertaining middleweight scrap. The UFC 302 co-main event is the norm for Strickland.
It should be noted that Strickland did enough to get that win. That is crucial if he wants to be fighting for the title. I have no issue with that. Rather, my issue revolves around the common narrative of what Strickland is as a fighter.
Kevin Holland gets back on track
At UFC 302, Kevin Holland had his back up against the wall as he entered the UFC octagon on a two-fight losing streak. That did not last long, however. Holland locked up an armbar in the first round to submit Michal Oleksiejczuk to get back in the win column.
This bout was wild. Oleksiejczuk immediately pressured Holland and landed a massive overhand. That shot dropped Holland, but it gave him a chance to lock up an armbar. Holland took the opportunity and broke Oleksiejczuk’s arm.
Holland will have a spot in the UFC for a long time, but it is never good to drop three consecutive fights. This win was important for Holland even if that was not clear heading into the event.
Jailton Almeida bounces back
The UFC 302 prelims saw another high-profile name get back in the win column. Jailton Almeida submitted Alexander Romanov in a massive comeback victory.
This was a weird fight. Part of that was because Almeida is an elite prospect who was looking to bounce back from his first UFC loss. Well, that is exactly what he did.
Romanov is a good wrestler who is much bigger than Almeida. Still, Almeida made the fight look easy. He landed a takedown, worked to the back, and landed the submission. That is the exact type of performance Almeida needed to get back on track.
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