Justin Gaethje won the ‘BMF’ title belt in the UFC 291 main event following a significant knockout with a head kick against Dustin Poirier, marking Gaethje’s eighth UFC win overall.
Justin Gaethje accomplished a striking revenge and claimed a ‘BMF’ title belt following an astounding knockout against Dustin Poirier in the main event at UFC 291. The definitive strike was a ruthless head kick that many are hailing as the knockout of the year. This performance exhibited a stark contrast to their fight five years prior, where Dustin bested Justin. Nonetheless, Gaethje pledged a completely refreshed approach to this face-off, demonstrating heightened patience and avoiding the temptation of a standard foot-to-foot brawl with Poirier.
The initially equal contest escalated when Gaethje lured Poirier with his punches in the second round, opening a window for the devastating head kick setup. The moment Gaethje’s shin connected, Poirier tumbled onto the canvas. Gaethje followed through with a concluding strike, at which point the referee swiftly intervened before any further damage could be inflicted on Poirier. The official termination was marked one minute into the second round, followed by Gaethje celebrating his victory with Jorge Masvidal, who fittingly presented the ‘BMF’ title on his shoulder.
Post-match, Gaethje passionately expressed his gratitude for the opportunity of avenging his past loss as he said, “Unlike any other sport on Earth, you rarely get a chance at redemption… So to come back, to prove myself and I believed in myself the whole time…It was a tough lesson to learn but that man taught me that lesson and I think god for him.” Poirier began the rematch with a strategy to dominate the boxing range, with Gaethje demonstrating a more patient approach than in their previous bout. Gaethje successfully delivered a steady stream of leg kicks and a sequence of stinging punches.
In the second round, when Gaethje advanced on Poirier with more aggression, he deftly recognized Poirier’s strategy to set up counters. Seizing the chance, Gaethje delivered the head kick, flooring Poirier, who hadn’t been knocked out since his 2016 bout with Michael Johnson. Gaethje’s spectacular win resulted in his eighth UFC victory overall and ideally positions him for a title shot at lightweight against the winner of the upcoming face-off between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 in October. Gaethje didn’t mince words post-match: “You know what I want to do next,” he proclaimed, “I want to fight for the world championship…I’m going to prove I’m the best in the world.”