UFC 302: At Least Three Reasons To Watch Makhachev vs Poirier

On the night of June 2 in Newark, Russian fighter Islam Makhachev will defend his title for the third time, with American Dustin Poirier as his opponent. It will be Islam's first fight as a champion on U.S. soil, but the Russian's fourth title fight is interesting for more than just that. Telecomasia.net explains why Makhachev and Poirier will become part of UFC history in June.

If we consider the sports aspect of the Makhachev vs Poirier fight, it is hard to find any flaws. Islam has an ultimate level of wrestling, good striking, and a rich arsenal of takedowns. "The Diamond" can counter with decent boxing, BJJ, and threaten with a guillotine.

However, for Islam, this fight is important from another point of view. Just think about it: the Russian will defend the title for the first time against the lightweight who has been at the top of the UFC for over ten years and has long been a star. If successful, Makhachev will be on par with fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov, BJ Penn, Benson Henderson, and Frankie Edgar. In other words, Islam will defend the title for the third time, thus repeating the UFC record. No one has had four defenses yet.

Makhachev can also win his 14th fight in a row in the UFC and enter the top 3 fighters in terms of the duration of a winning streak. Anderson Silva won 16 consecutive fights, Kamaru Usman - 15. Khabib, Islam, and many more athletes have 13 wins.

But the most interesting part is - at UFC 302, the champions will fight in the improved gloves that the promotion introduced before the milestone event. Makhachev and Poirier will be the first fighters to step into the octagon wearing beautiful golden gloves. We will tell you about the new equipment.

Before the grand UFC 300 tournament, the league announced the new gloves. The fighters will try out the new equipment at the 302nd numbered event. But what is going to change?

The cut of the glove will undergo major changes. A new tight-fitting clasp will embrace the wrists of the athletes, protecting their hands, as well as preventing them from sticking their fingers into the opponent's glove while on the ground. The UFC has also worked on the back side of the glove, with which the fighters strike. It is now manufactured using seamless technology. The creators of the equipment promise that there will be far fewer cuts in the cage. The new gloves are about 28 grams lighter than the old ones.

The padding inside the gloves has also changed. On the striking surface, you can notice more layers of soft material, including the VICIS RFLX layer - a polymer foam that reduces the impact on the joints without diminishing the striking force. The fighter will hit just as hard, but there will be less risk to their health. The gloves will also have chips embedded in them, allowing real-time data collection.

You can't ignore the color palette as well. As many fans have noticed, each color of the gloves now carries its own symbolic meaning: black is used for ranked fights and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) show, gold is for champions and contenders, blue is for Dana White's Contender Series, and red is for the Road to UFC project.

But the most interesting thing is that the new glove design should make it much harder to open the palm of the hand. Fighters will now be much less likely to poke their opponents in the eyes.

The updated version of the glove was used at Dana White's Contender Series last year. UFC Performance Institute Vice President Duncan French stated that statistics showed a decrease in eye pokes during Contender Series fights. Interestingly, the official could not confirm whether this could primarily be attributed to the updated glove design or if fighters simply had fewer accidental eye pokes.

Eye pokes have recently become a real issue in the octagon. Just recall some of the recent incidents: Max Holloway inadvertently poked Justin Gaethje in the eyes twice, Nursulton Ruziboev accidentally hit Sedriques Dumas in the eyes and then continued to strike him on the ground. Chris Weidman poked poor Bruno Silva in both eyes twice before winning, but he himself received an eye poke.

Silva admitted after the fight with the former champion that he lost 30% of his vision, and Weidman showed his bloodied cornea. "Too bad UFC don't want to change those sh*t gloves," that's how Gaethje reacted to the fight between the American and the Brazilian, where there were four eye pokes in total.

Back in 2015, UFC Hall of Famer Cub Swanson spoke about how the straight gloves were to blame for numerous injuries and it was high time to redesign the equipment in the style of classic boxing gloves. Nine years have passed, but the situation remains the same: athletes consistently inflict visual impairment on each other.

In March 2021, the fight between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad was stopped because the Englishman accidentally poked his opponent in the eye. Following this incident, Aljamain Sterling called for the creation of new gear.

We need new gloves. Period! They’re out there. I just don’t understand what we’re waiting for to make these changes. How many more eye injuries do we need to bring these new gloves in, that significantly reduce the spreading of the fingers.

Aljamain Sterling

It seems that by 2024, the situation has not only remained unchanged, it's gotten worse, with opponents poking each other in the eyes throughout fights. The new equipment design does not seem to be a panacea. Looking at the overall glove design, you can still see that the palm can still be opened and aimed at the opponent's eyes. Perhaps it will make it a little more difficult, but certainly not impossible.

At UFC 302, fighters will, for the first time, compete in the new gloves. Hopefully, the league has taken into account the serious problems with eye pokes and has done everything possible to minimize eye injuries.