Dustin Poirier is set to fight Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight championship in the main event of UFC 302 on 1 June 2024, slated for the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The bout will mark Poirier’s third crack at the 155-pound belt. The Diamond was 30 years old when he first fought for the belt against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242. A 32-year-old Diamond got another title shot at UFC 269 against Charles Oliveira. Like the fight against Khabib, Dustin lost to Charles via submission.
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Poirier is one of the longest-tenured fighters in the UFC as he has been with the promotion since he was 20 years old in 2009. He first campaigned at featherweight as his body was still very young to cut to 145 pounds. But after he was defeated by Conor McGregor at UFC 178, he moved up to the lightweight division, the weight class he fought at before arriving in the UFC.
The Diamond has thrived at lightweight and is now one of the UFC’s biggest superstars. He’s gone a long way from that young 17-year-old who approached a Louisiana gym owner and inquired about the possibility of training in MMA.
“I was asking him all these questions,” Poirier told MMAjunkie.com about the life-changing telephone call. “But I wasn’t asking what kind of martial arts training was there or anything, or how much I could get paid for fighting. I just said: ‘If I come there, will I be able to get a fight?’”
39 professional MMA fights later, that kid is now known as The Diamond. He owns two knockout wins over the iconic Conor McGregor and will now look to cement his spot in UFC history by winning the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 302.