Watch Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier
Watch UFC on ESPN Plus in the US
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Watch Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier at UFC 302
Watch UFC on Kayo in Australia
View details
The MMA carnival heads to the the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, for UFC 302. Dustin Poirier will enter the octagon for what could be the final time in a headline lightweight title fight against current champ Islam Makhachev.
Poirier has strongly suggested he’ll enter retirement after Saturday’s main even, with “The Diamond” aiming to become undisputed champion at the third — and potentially final — attempt.
Standing in his way is pound-for-pound UFC king Makhachev, who has reigned over the lightweight division since claiming the title by beating Charles Oliveira back in 2022, having made two successful defenses against Alexander Volkanovski last year.
The bill also boasts a pretty enticing support act, with Sean Strickland returning to the octagon for the first time since his middleweight title defeat to Dricus Du Plessis in January, with a comeback clash against Paulo Costa.
Catch all the action live from New Jersey by following our guide to watching UFC 302 no matter where in the world you are.
Current champ Makhachev (left) will put his UFC Lightweight belt on the line against Poirier on Saturday.
UFC 302 Start time
The UFC 302 main card gets going at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on Saturday, May 31. Here are all the details for multiple time zones.
US and Canada
- The main card starts June 1, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT).
- The prelims start June 1, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).
- The early prelims start June 1, 6:15 p.m. ET (3:15 p.m. PT).
UK
- The main card starts June 2, 3 a.m. BST.
- The prelims start June 2, 1 a.m. BST.
- The early prelims start June 1, 11:15 p.m. BST.
Australia
- The main card starts June 2, 12 p.m. AEST.
- The prelims start June 2, 10 a.m. AEST.
- The early prelims start June 2, 8:15 a.m. AEST.
Main event start time
It’s hard to say exactly when the main event will take place, but if you’re looking to only watch the fight between Makhachev and Poirier, ring walks will start no earlier than 12 a.m. ET (9 p.m. PT).
How to watch UFC 302 in the US
The UFC has a long-running partnership with ESPN. That’s great news for the UFC and the expansion of the sport of MMA, but bad news for the consumer choice of US UFC fans.
In the US, if you want to watch UFC 302, you’ll find the fight night only on pay per view through ESPN Plus. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options to watch UFC on ESPN, according to ESPN’s site:
- Existing annual ESPN Plus subscribers can order the upcoming UFC card for $80.
- New ESPN Plus subscribers can buy a bundle of UFC 302 PPV event (streaming in HD) and an ESPN Plus annual recurring subscription for $135. This is a decent deal. The ESPN Plus annual ESPN subscription will auto-renew after one year, at the price of an ESPN Plus annual subscription at the time of auto-renewal.
You can do all of the above at the link below.
MMA fans in the UK can watch all the action from New Jersey via TNT Sport and the surprisingly good news is that unlike some UFC events on the network, this event won’t be PPV.
TNT Sports is the exclusive UK broadcaster for all numbered UFC events in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in exactly the same way as its predecessor BT Sport, including via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs £30 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus’ library of documentary content.
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The logo for UK TV broadcaster TNT Sports.
TNT Sports
You can watch UFC 302 through Main Event on Foxtel. That means you can also watch online via sports streaming service Kayo for AU$60.
You can check out the PPV on Kayo in Australia.
UFC 302’s main card is available to watch through a variety of PPV providers, including cable operators such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw, as well as streaming services such as DAZN, Sportsnet Plus and UFC Fight Pass. Whichever option you opt for, it’s a PPV fee of CA$70 across the board.
It’s also worth noting that early prelims will be available to stream via UFC Fight Pass, while the event’s Prelims will be shown on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
Main card
- Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Dustin Poirier (Lightweight title)
- Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa (Middleweight)
- Kevin Holland vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk (Middleweight)
- Niko Price vs. Alex Morono (Welterweight)
- Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (Welterweight)
Prelims
- César Almeida vs. Roman Kopylov (Middleweight)
- Jailton Almeida vs. Alexander Romanov (Heavyweight)
- Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki (Lightweight)
- Philip Rowe vs. Jake Matthews (Welterweight)
Early prelims
- Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez (Welterweight)
- Ailín Pérez vs. Joselyne Edwards (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Mitch Raposo vs. André Lima (Catchweight — 130 pounds)
If you find yourself unable to view UFC 302 locally, you may need a different way to watch the octagon action — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. With a VPN, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN” target=”_blank, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop, allowing you to get access to those US, UK or Australian viewing options for UFC 302 listed above from almost anywhere in the world.
It’s also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic and adds an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins when traveling or connecting to a public Wi-Fi network.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing its terms of service or blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals” target=”_blank taking place right now.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 35% — the equivalent of $8.32 a month — if you get an annual subscription.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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Sarah Tew/CNET
- With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming UFC 302 may vary.
- If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
- If you’re having trouble getting the fight after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
- All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
- And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
