UFC 291 is a banger! The UFC returns to Salt Lake City, Utah, with a BMF title fight between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. The co-main event, meanwhile, features the light heavyweight debut of Alex Pereira as he takes on former champion Jan Blachowicz. Fan favorites Tony Ferguson and Derrick Lewis are also in action. Let’s take a closer look at the card.
UFC 291 Prelim Card
Women’s flyweights open the action as rising prospect Miranda Maverick steps in on short notice to fight Priscilla Cachoeira. Despite the short notice, Maverick is a heavy favorite against the Brazilian.
Matthew Semelsberger meets Uros Medic in a welterweight tilt. Expect Semelsberger to just about come out on top in this affair. CJ Vergara battles Vinicius Salvador in a flyweight contest. This should be a very competitive fight with Vergara emerging the victor in the end. Middleweights are also in action as Roman Kopylov collides with Claudio Ribeiro. The Russian is on a two fight winning streak, both by stoppage, should have the upper hand and make it three wins in a row.
The famous Derrick ‘My Balls Was Hot” Lewis returns to action when he faces Marcos Rogerio de Lima. Lewis, ranked #11, is on a three-fight losing streak and is a slight underdog against the Brazilian. De Lima is good and with a submission win over Andre Arlovski and more recently Cortes Acosta is on his way up.
Gabriel Bonfim takes on Trevin Giles in a welterweight bout to top the prelims. This should be pretty straight forward with Bonfim going 15-0 and maintaining his undefeated record.
UFC 291 Main Card
Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Holland
A stacked main card opens up with a welterweight encounter as veteran Michael Chiesa takes on the all-action Kevin Holland. Chiesa will be making his return to action for the first time since November 2021 when he was outpointed by Sean Brady. Overall, he is on a two-fight losing streak after previously getting submitted by Vicente Luque. He will be looking to return to the win column and embarking on another win streak up at 170 pounds.
He won’t face an easy test in Holland, who recently returned to the win column with an emphatic third-round knockout win over Santiago Ponzinibbio in April earlier this year. Prior to that, Holland was TKO'd by Stephen Thompson and suffered an embarassing submission defeat to Khamzat Chimaev in a catchweight bout. However, overall, he is 3-1 in the welterweight division and should make it a fourth win against Chiesa, who should have plenty of ring rust.
Stephen Thompson vs Michel Pereira
Stephen Thompson takes on Michel Pereira in a welterweight encounter that should dazzle striking fans. Thompson hasn't competed since December when his Fight of the Night encounter with Kevin Holland resulted in a fourth-round TKO win due to a corner stoppage. It was a return to form for "Wonderboy" who also snapped a two-fight losing streak after getting outpointed by high-level competition in Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad.
The American karate fighter looks to make it two wins in a row when he faces the dynamic and unpredictable Pereira, who is on quite the run. After getting outpointed by Tristan Connelly and suffering a disqualification against Diego Sanchez, the Brazilian has fine-tuned his game and is now on a five-fight winning streak with wins over Zelim Imadaev, Khaos Williams, Niko Price, Andre Fialho and Santiago Ponzinibbio. This should be a good striking battle, and Thompson should this on the feet for a decision victory.
Tony Ferguson vs Bobby Green
Tony Ferguson returns to action in a lightweight bout against fellow veteran Bobby Green. It’s extraordinary to think about given his previous 12-fight winning streak from 2012 to 2020, but the American wrestler is currently on a five-fight losing streak. His last encounter came in September last year when he was submitted by Nate Diaz in their short-notice welterweight fight.
Green is on a winless run himself as he hasn’t emerged victorious in his last three fights. His last fight was a no contest with Jared Gordon after an accidental clash of heads. Prior to that, he was finished by strikes by Islam Makhachev and Drew Dober. That said, he remains a solid betting favorite and I think he pushes to make it six losses in a row for “El Cucuy” that should consider retirement.
Jan Blachowicz vs Alex Pereira
The co-headliner sees former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz welcome Alex Pereira to 205 pounds. Blachowicz is coming off a split decision draw against Magomed Ankalaev in December in their vacant light heavyweight title fight. Prior to that, the Polish knockout artist rebounded from his title defeat to Glover Teixeira with a TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic, albeit he was helped by the latter suffering a fight-ending knee injury.
Pereira, meanwhile, is coming off a second-round knockout defeat to Israel Adesanya in their middleweight title rematch back in April. It was his first defeat in the UFC as well as the first time he had ever been knocked out cold in his professional career. Regardless, the kick-boxer will be competing just three months later in a higher weight class. The Brazlian won’t have to worry about Blachowicz’s power as much as his grappling. After all, Blachowicz grappled Adesanya on his way to victory and could use the same blueprint on Pereira.
Oddsmakers have Blachowicz edging it out, and that’s where I land on this exciting bout.
Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje
The headliner sees a fight of the year rematch between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje for the BMF title. Their first fight was back in April 2018 where a back-and-forth war resulted in Poirier snatching the fourth-round TKO win. However, this is a much different matchup. For starters, Poirier is a lot richer and more famous following his win over Conor McGregor.
Another reason why this fight will be different is Gaethje will be fighting a lot smarter. It was actually the Poirier defeat in 2018 that led to “The Highlight” changing up his style and becoming a more controlled and composed fighter.
Other than his two lightweight title fight defeats to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira -- just like Poirier -- Gaethje has won every fight and is yet to be knocked out since. His most recent outing was an impressive decision win over rising lightweight contender Rafael Fiziev in March that showed a lot of maturity in his mentality and fight game.
I like Gaethje to KO Poirier to get revenge. Justin is coming into his own and with his power and take-down defense, should land a few punches to put out the fellow American.
