Medical suspensions at UFC 302: Dustin Poirier and Sean Strickland face indefinite suspensions

UFC 302 featured just three wins in 12 fights, but that didn’t stop several athletes from getting injured last Saturday night in Newark, NJ.

On Tuesday, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board lifted medical suspensions for the event, bringing potentially lengthy stoppages to both the main event and co-main event.

Dustin Poirier put up a brave fight at the start of the fight, but ultimately fell to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, losing by submission in the fifth round. After the fight, Poirier admitted that he had his nose smashed during the fight and that he had suffered some sort of leg injury during a cage-side takedown attempt in the third round.

As a result, Poirier has been suspended indefinitely by the commission pending an ENT doctor’s evaluation of his nose injury and an orthopedic assessment for the injury to his left knee sustained in the fight.

At this point, Poirier is still considering a possible retirement from the sport, so his eventual medical clearance may not play a role if he decides not to return to the UFC.

In the co-main event, Sean Strickland defeated Paulo Costa, but now faces an indefinite suspension pending an X-ray of his left shin and clearance from an orthopedic specialist for the injury to his left shin/leg. The wording of the suspension states that Strickland may have suffered some sort of broken leg, but the committee wants him to undergo a physical to confirm the possible nature of the injury.

Costa, on the other hand, put in a lackluster performance and lost the five-round fight by decision. Costa now faces an indefinite suspension until he is cleared by an orthopedic doctor for the right ankle/foot injury he sustained in the fight.

He must also sit out for 30 days and avoid physical contact for 14 days, even if his foot/ankle recovers sooner.

Michael Oleksiejczuk also faces an indefinite suspension after breaking his arm in a first-round submission attack by Kevin Holland. The extent of the injury is still unknown, but Oleksiejczuk will need to get clearance from an orthopedic doctor for his right arm/elbow before he can compete again.

Here is the full list of medical suspensions at UFC 302:

• Islam Makhachev: 30 days suspension/contact ban due to facial injuries
• Dustin Poirier: Indefinite suspension until ENT clearance for the nose and orthopedic clearance for the left knee
• Sean Strickland: 30 days suspension/no contact. Indefinite suspension pending x-ray of left tibia and orthopedic clearance of left tibia/leg.
• Paulo Costa: 30-day suspension, 14-day contact ban. Indefinite suspension until orthopedic clearance of the right ankle/foot

• Michal Oleksiejczuk: Indefinite suspension until clearance for orthopedic surgery on the right elbow/arm

• Randy Brown: Indefinite suspension until X-ray of the right big toe and until clearance of the right big toe by the orthopedist

• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos: Indefinite suspension until clearance by the ophthalmologist

• Jailton Almeida: Indefinite suspension until MRI of the left knee and until clearance of the left knee by the orthopedist

• Grant Dawson: 30 days suspension, no contact due to laceration of left eyebrow

• Bassil Hafez: 30 days ban, no contact

• Mickey Gall: 14 days suspension mandatory, indefinite suspension until nephrological clearance

• Ailin Perez: 30 days suspension, no contact. Indefinite suspension until clearance from oral surgeon

• Jocelyne Edwards: 30 days no contact suspension. Indefinite suspension pending x-ray of right thumb