MMA Revenge Rewind; Porier Gaethje 2
(For MMA Underground – https://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/revenge-rewind-dustin-poirier-and-justin-gaethje-clash-again-this-time-for-the-bmf-title)
Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) are set to face off against each other for the second time in their professional careers, capping off the UFC 291 card at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 29.
Poirier’s last fight was a win over Michael Chandler in late 2022 after a year break following a loss to former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. Gaethje already fought once this year, beating Rafael Fiziev via majority decision during UFC 286 in March.
The No. 2 and No. 3 lightweight contenders met once before over half a decade ago in 2018 during a UFC Fight Night event, where “The Diamond” got the better of Gaethje, forcing a referee stoppage just 33 seconds into the fourth round of the main event.
A win on July 29 will not only provide a chance for either Poirier or Gaethje to get an eventual title shot but will also crown the next holder of the BMF belt left vacant after the retirement of Jorge Masvidal. Both fighters are all in on the thought of winning the belt as it represents their style.
With 34 professional knockouts and an over 75 percent career finish rate between the two, Dana White and the UFC couldn’t have found a better matchup to crown a new BMF champion and a potential lightweight title challenger.
In their first meeting back in 2018, Poirier landed 142 significant strikes to Gaethje’s head alone and finished the fight connecting on 49 percent of all significant strikes, including the head punches that forced referee Herb Dean to call the fight.
Gaethje landed around 60 fewer total strikes than Poirier and had no takedowns to Dustin’s five, but he did most of his work on Poirier’s lower body, throwing kicks on nearly a quarter of his strikes. Although the last 33 seconds were one-sided, the two lightweights were nearly even on paper and in the eyes of fans, trading blows up until the fourth round when Poirier ultimately came out on top.
This bout was so entertaining it finished runner-up for the “Best Fights of 2018” in the UFC, one spot behind the exciting rematch between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero.
Even before both fighters became interim champions, everyone knew that an all-time fight was imminent when these two stepped into the octagon together. The official UFC description for the “Best Fights of 2018” runner-up states, “Everyone expected a war out of Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, and they got everything they asked for and more.”
Poirier and Gaethje have been known warriors that produce the type of entertainment that MMA fans can’t get enough of, and on July 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah, expect nothing less.