UFC 302: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier Picks, Predictions and Odds

A huge UFC event is scheduled for this weekend, which will see Islam Makhachev defend his UFC Lightweight title against Dustin Poirier.

UFC 302 will take place on Saturday, June 1st at the Prudential Arena in Newark, New Jersey and can be watched through ESPN+ Pay-Per-View.

The card is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM ET with the Early Preliminaries, followed by the Preliminaries at 8:00 PM ET, and the Main Card at 10:00 PM.   

UFC 302: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier betting picks and predictions

Islam Makhachev ML (-600)

The first leg of our parlay will simply target Makhachev to defend his Lightweight title. Makhachev comes into this fight with an MMA record of 25-1 and he is 14-1 in the UFC.

He has won 13 consecutive fights in the UFC, suffering his only loss in October of 2015. Makhachev is an excellent striker, averaging 2.46 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 60%. He also excels at grappling, averaging 3.17 takedowns per every 15 minutes with a takedown accuracy of 60%.

Not only is Makhachev a proven striker and grappler, but he also has a striking defense of 61%, while absorbing just 1.27 strikes per minute and has a takedown defense of 90%.

Poirier on the other hand, has been a little inconsistent recently, going just 2-2 in his last four UFC fights. He tends to struggle against the top ranked guys, such as Justin Gaethje, a fight he lost by KO/TKO in July of 2023 and Charles Oliveira, a fight for the Lightweight title that he lost by submission in December of 2021.

It is worth noting that Makhachev is the overwhelming favorite to retain his Lightweight title. That being said, backing Makhachev to win (-600) will still be our best bet based on how dominant he has been in his career, compared to Poirier sometimes struggling in big fights.

Over 1.5 Total Rounds (-175)

Our second pick will focus on this fight to go over 1.5 total rounds. While Poirier has struggled to be consistent lately, all of his fights generally last a while.

Poirier has seen 12 of his last 15 UFC fights go over 1.5 total rounds. As for Makhachev, he has seen nine of his 15 UFC fights go over 1.5 total rounds, which includes two of his last three fights.

Because both Poirier and Makhachev have seen the majority of their recent fights go over 1.5 rounds, backing this title fight to also go Over 1.5 Total Rounds (-175) will be the play.

UFC 302: Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier odds

Islam Makhachev	-600
Dustin Poirier	+450

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.