UFC 291 Results And Recap: Justin Gaethje wins BMF belt with 2nd round finish of Dustin Poirier

Salt Lake City (USA), July 30: Justin Gaethje redeemed himself and won the BMF title following the first-round stoppage of Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2, which took place at the sold out Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday (July 29).

UFC 291 witnessed 9 of 13 fights ending in finishes, including three in the first round, as four fights ended in either technical knock out (TKO) or Knock out (KO) and five fights ended in submissions.

While there was no fight of the night bonus awarded, four fighters including the main eventer Gaethje as Derrick Lewis, Bobby Green and Kevin Holland took home an extra USD50K as performance bonuses for their respective stoppage wins on the main card.

The highly anticipated rematch between No. 2 ranked lightweight contender Poirier and No. 3 ranked Gaethje for the vacant BMF title delivered action straight from the starting bell.

Fans in the arena were vocal and on their feet going into the second round, and they watched Gaethje win the belt with a walk off KO by head kick, sending the referee sliding in to protect Poirier.

After the win, Gaethje said, "Unlike any other sport on Earth, you rarely get a chance at redemption. We take a loss and have to go home with it. I told Dustin he's my favorite fighter on Earth.

"Luck and chance are a factor in this cage. I thank God that I came out on the right side this time. It's a crazy sport. I trust in myself, I trust in my abilities, and I have the support of the world. I hope I just inspired you!"

In the co-main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion, No. 3 ranked Jan Blachowicz made the smart decision to shoot on former middleweight titleholder Alex Pereira instead of standing with the kickboxer, and he nearly locked on a submission in the first round.

However the wrestling took a toll on Blachowicz' stamina and Pereira began to edge ahead with his strong kicks. Both men dug deep in the final round, but handed the fight to the judges who scored a split decision to Pereira.

Following the decision win, Pereira said, "It was a very hard fight, but I think I was able to show you guys a bit of my ground (skills). My focus is always the belt.

"We've had conversations about it, and now I'm going to fight for the belt, it doesn't matter against who. I've put in the work, I've been training with the former champ Glover Teixeira, I'm not changing anything."

Also on the main card, Kevin Holland picked up the biggest win of his career to kick off the card, submitting Michael Chiesa in the first round of a welterweight bout, while Bobby Green got back into the win column after he handed Tony Ferguson a sixth consecutive loss in a lightweight bout.

In the highlight of the main card, heavyweight Derrick Lewis landed a flying knee to start his fight with Marcos Rogerio de Lima and never let him back into the fight, pounding out the finish before stripping off his shorts and dancing around the Octagon.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Bonfim, Roman Kopylov and Jake Matthews claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts on the preliminary card, which also saw CJ Vergara earn a decision win after Uros Medic and Miranda Maverick claimed stoppages in the early prelims. Here is a look at the results:

UFC 291 Results

Main Card

1. Lightweight Bout For BMF Title: Justin Gaethje defeated Dustin Poirier by KO (right high kick) at 1:00 of Round 2

2. Light Heavyweight Bout: Alex Pereira defeated Jan Blachowicz by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

3. Heavyweight Bout: Derrick Lewis defeated Marcos Rogerio de Lima by TKO (strikes) at 0:33 of Round 1

4. Lightweight Bout: Bobby Green defeated Tony Ferguson by technical submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:54 of Round 3

5. Welterweight Bout: Kevin Holland defeated Michael Chiesa by submission (D'arce choke) at 2:39 of Round 1

Preliminary Card

1. Welterweight Bout: Gabriel Bonfim defeated Trevin Giles by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:13 of Round 1

2. Catchweight (128.5 lbs) Bout: CJ Vergara defeated Vinicius Salvador by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

3. Middleweight Bout: Roman Kopylov defeated Claudio Ribeiro by KO (left high kick) at 0:33 of Round 2

4. Welterweight Bout: Jake Matthews defeated Darrius Flowers by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:37 of Round 2

Early Preliminary Card

1. Welterweight Bout: Uros Medic defeated Matthew Semelsberger by TKO (strikes) at 2:36 of Round 3

2. Women's Flyweight Bout: Miranda Maverick defeated Priscila Cachoeira by submission (armbar) at 2:11 of Round 3