UFC 302 RECAP: Islam Makhachev scores late submission of Dustin Poirier to retain title | CBS Sports

and still your UFC lightweight champion

Islam

makev in a tremendous five round battle

with Dustin porier maach submitting

porier late in round five and retaining

his UFC lightweight

championship in a

fight that was much closer maybe than a

lot of people thought might be

porier showed out but

makev too good in the

end and for more on UFC 302 and the

aftermath we bring in Brian Campbell CBS

Sports combat sports analyst uh BC that

was a heck of a championship fight to

Finish out UFC 302 how did it look from

your

standpoint look it was all heart all

guts from both competitors but obviously

in a losing sense in what could end up

being right he wouldn't commit to

reement afterwards officially but what

could be the last fight in the

incredible pro career of Dustin porier

he would not go quietly and that's what

allowed this fight to really fit that

description we like to call Combat

Sports sometimes the theater of the

unknown we knew poier would have trouble

with the wrestling of michev and really

the all-around perfect game that he

brings out there and in the first couple

rounds that seemed to be the case but we

know we can never measure the True Heart

of a champion and even though Dustin

porier the one thing his great career

has lacked is that Undisputed

championship ring right former interim

title holder never could win the big one

but he's got the heart and will of a

world class Championship Hall of Fame

performer he survived the storm well he

rallied back to bloody Mev in the

championship rounds and it turned out to

be his own takedown defense an

incredible stamina that kept him in the

fight and as we got closer to the Finish

obviously the way mahv was able to

finally take down and submitted him

really speaks to his greatness but Mev

looked to be in Peril in those final

rounds bleeding from the face looking to

maybe be one or two strikes away from

really being in trouble if you want to

really see for firsthand how close this

fight actually was and how tough it was

look at the celebration of Team mahv

afterwards they are not usually an

emotional group they are very stoic they

leap the the Octagon fence and leaped

all over mAh following that fifth round

submission it's his third title defense

it ties him for most in lightweight

history but it's hard to not exit this

fight talking about one man and that's

Dustin porier the American hero in so

many ways for being so battle tested

once again even though yes he did not

climb the mountain in his third and

seemingly final time at a full UFC title

he once again left his Mark yeah poier

might not have gone over but he got over

in wrestling terms to say on this night

we got to talk about mahb though because

afterwards he said all right 155 he's

kind of proven his thing he wants to go

up to 170 how do you look at his

prospects at

170 very very bright and here's the

reason right he's almost Flawless as a

fighter okay hard to say in a really

tough fight in which poier rallied back

and hurt him for sure but this is a guy

who's got such great defense such great

timing and technique on his striking

game an incredible mind not just the

Hall of Famer Naga met off in his Corner

the former lightweight champion but

khabib's L father Abdul manap and that

coaching tree out of dagistan Russia

that they've handed down mahv is so

large for the 170lb division of which he

has absolutely dominated this was his

14th consecutive Victory 13th in the

division but imagine him moving up in

weight going up to welterweight excuse

me which is 170 he of course is the

champion at 155 him at 170 lbs I

actually imagine him to be very

effective he'll have that extra gas tank

to really fuel his Sublime grappling

skills maybe you saw him in the

championship rounds of this fight use up

a little bit too much of that gas tank

in trying to take down and submit porier

before ultimately doing so but you're

talking about a guy who called his shot

says he wants to move up to welterweight

we know Leon Edwards is the champion

he's got a fight coming up against B

muhamad not only do I think mahv is a

player I think he may actually be

favored as an as as the smaller fighter

moving up in weight he really is that

great he just finished off the former

pound for pound King Alexander

volkanovski two victories including a

head kick knockout I know that was a

smaller fighter moving up but at the end

of the day it's skills that win fights

nobody is more skilled in this game than

Mev do you think we see poier in the

Octagon

again you know you really have to take

his words closely what I heard in what

he said afterwards in an emotional

speech was if I come back could I still

do it could I still beat some of the

very best yes but for what look this is

a guy who became a crossover

pay-per-view star that's what happens

when you defeat Conor McGregor in

back-to-back fights which he did a few

years ago he's made a lot of money he's

known for the charitable outputs he does

through his foundation he's a a man's

man in so many ways an ambassador of

this sport but unless let's say McGregor

up comes out and beats Michael Chandler

and calls him out unless there's

something really worth it for Dustin

he's fought for every title he could

he's moved weight classes he fought for

the BMF strap he's done it all I don't

think we see him again because his

connection to his family his wife and

children is so strong he shouted them

out afterwards he brought his young

daughter to her first fight to see him

in person I think this is the end of the

ride the Hat tip the walk away for one

of the greatest fighters in history but

most importantly maybe right maybe the

greatest fighter we've ever seen to walk

in and out of that UFC octagon and never

win a title that's a debate nobody wants

to be on the the top of that list we're

talking about greats like Dan Henderson

Uriah Faber but Dustin porier right

there right at top that group if he

never fights again just look up and down

the list of not only who he fought but

who he beat it's champion after former

champion after big name his biggest

losses have been some of his greatest

performances because of how honest a

fighter he has always been I do not do

not think we will see Dustin porier

again but I also do not think we will

see someone exactly like him again A

Hero's hero in so many ways a guy who

has evolved improved and more

importantly maybe he's similar to the

career of Randy coutura the former two

Division champion and Legend a guy who

you could never count out it doesn't

matter if he's been knocked out hold the

fight before Dustin porier is never out

of a fight you mentioned Conor McGregor

we're going to see Conor McGregor before

the month is up in UFC 303 in Vegas

against Michael Chandler uh look do you

have any idea what kind of Conor

McGregor we're going to see at 170 later

this month uh it's it's really hard to

have high hopes and you want to have

high hopes because covering Conor

McGregor whether you're a journalist

like me whether you're a fan is has been

some of the most exciting times in the

history of this sport for a reason but

we're asking a lot out of a guy in his

late 30s coming off a major injury huge

multiple year layoffs he's been

distracted in the movie game making the

Roadhouse remake there's been whis spers

of maybe living life loose on the ends

outside of training camp of which he is

in of course right now for Chandler

Michael Chandler is beatable he's also

in his late 30s an action fighter who

takes big risks and Connor will still be

the naturally bigger man here as they

don't have to cut weight hard they'll

come in comfortably at 170 yes anyone

can win this fight but it's really hard

to look at Conor McGregor's history

since 2016 since he was a top the

mountain as a two Division champion yes

no one's going to say anything bad about

the money he earned against Floyd

Mayweather in boxing a couple years

later but the second half of Conor's

career has been a lot of headlines a lot

of money a lot of sponsorships a lot of

business not a lot of Victories Inside

the Cage it's a young man's game and

inactivity has been typically the killer

for big names who try to Dart in and out

of activity it's hard to imagine we're

going to see the best of Conor McGregor

I guess the only hope is we're going to

see the best of what he's got left well

for the next four weeks we're going to

be talking about what we might see with

Conor McGregor at the end of the month

meanwhile UFC 302 delivered especially

in the in the main event and of course

Brian Campbell always delivers here on

CBS Sports HQ thanks

PC and here's a look at the main card

for UFC 303 set for Saturday June 29th

the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas Nevada

and right at the top of the card in bold

letters Conor McGregor versus Michael

Chandler in a well through eight bout at

170

coming up highlights and reaction from

New Jersey and UFC 302 which is now in

the books stick around we'll be back on

CBS Sports HQ