UFC 302 Technical Breakdown: Makhachev Outstrikes and Submits Poirier

Dustin Poirier made the fight more competitive that many thought he would, but Islam Makhachev was still always a step ahead, both in grappling and in striking.

Desperately Needed Excitement

For those watching the live PPV broadcast while it was approaching the main event, UFC 302 was feeling more and more like it wasn’t going to deliver entertainment proportional to its high price tag.

The tepid co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa felt like it could be the final nail in the coffin for the lackluster event.

That was in part because many were expecting Islam Makhachev to run through Dustin Poirier. While both fighters are fan favorites with immense skill and a tendency to finish fights, it felt like we had seen Poirier in this matchup enough times to see the writing on the wall.

Even in my own preview article, despite outlining a potential path to victory for Poirier, I still picked Makhachev to repeat the successes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira in their submission victories over Poirier.

While the champion eventually found a way to get his challenger to tap, it was preceded by four and a half rounds of thrilling action as Poirier was surprisingly game in the grappling portions of the fight.

In this article we’ll dive deep into the fast-paced scrambles, technical boxing exchanges, brutal clinch work, and the finish that capped it all off. In the end, our appreciation of both the surprising grit of Dustin Poirier and the pound-for-pound greatness of Islam Makhachev will increase.

Where Were Poirier’s Counters?

One of the biggest surprises of the fight was how Makhachev not only competed well with Poirier on the feet, but actually outstruck him nearly every minute that they were battling at range.

There’s no singular reason why the fighter who boxed so well against Max Holloway and Conor McGregor struggled so much against an ostensibly grappling-focused fighter, so we’ll need to break Poirier’s issues down into several pieces.

First, Poirier is normally one of the most dangerous counterpunchers in the sport, but against Makhachev he found little success in that area.

Generally, Poirier settled into a “your turn, my turn” mentality against Makhachev, opting to focus on defense only when Makhachev initiated exchanges and only feeling comfortable throwing punches when he was the one going first.

Poirier was too uncomfortable when Makhachev initiated exchanges to fire back with his typically ferocious counters.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter how good of a striker Poirier has been in other fights, ceding the initiative will always create hard limits on your success. It’s likely that Poirier just felt that it was too risky to plant his feet and throw back with Makhachev, knowing that it could leave him vulnerable to a takedown.

But without presenting any threats to Makhachev on the counter, he couldn’t do anything to make the fight uncomfortable or stressful for his opponent.

Even as the fight went into the fifth round and Makhachev had blood pouring out of his face, it never looked like he was flustered or losing his cool.