| UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | July 29, 2023 (2023-07-29) | |||
| Venue | Delta Center | |||
| City | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States | |||
| Attendance | 18,467[1] | |||
| Total gate | $6,556,443.97[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 29, 2023, at theDelta Center inSalt Lake City, Utah, United States.[2]
The event marked the promotion's third visit to Salt Lake City and first sinceUFC 278 in August 2022.[2]
A lightweight rematch between former interimUFC Lightweight ChampionsDustin Poirier andJustin Gaethje (also formerWSOF Lightweight Champion) headlined the event.[3] They also competed for the symbolic "BMF" (baddestmotherfucker) title, which was vacated after the original holderJorge Masvidal retired in April.[4] The pairing first met atUFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje in April 2018 which Poirier won by fourth-round TKO. The fight was considered "Fight of the Year" by several media channels.[5]
A welterweight bout between formerUFC Welterweight Championship challengerStephen Thompson andMichel Pereira was expected to take place atUFC 289,[6] but contracts were never signed and the bout was rescheduled for this event instead.[7] At the weigh-ins, Pereira weighed in at 174 pounds, three pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit.[8] As a result, the bout was scrapped.[9]
Matthew Semelsberger and Yohan Lainesse were scheduled to meet in a welterweight bout at the event.[10] However on July 10, Lainesse was removed from the event for undisclosed reasons and replaced byUroš Medić.[11]
Joanne Wood was expected to facePriscila Cachoeira in a women's flyweight bout on the preliminary card.[12] However, Wood pulled out in mid-July due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced byMiranda Maverick.[13]
A welterweight matchup betweenJake Matthews andMiguel Baeza was booked for this event.[14] However on July 19, Baeza pulled out due to an undisclosed reason.[15] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Darrius Flowers.[16]
FormerUFC Middleweight Championship challengerPaulo Costa andIkram Aliskerov were expected to meet at the event.[17] However, the promotion opted to scrap the pairing and instead move them toUFC 294 in October matching them up withKhamzat Chimaev andNassourdine Imavov, respectively.[18]
At the weigh-ins, Vinicius Salvador weighed in at 128.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20 percent of his purse, which went to his opponentC.J. Vergara.[19]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Justin Gaethje | def. | Dustin Poirier | KO (head kick) | 2 | 1:00 | [a] |
| Light Heavyweight | Alex Pereira | def. | Jan Błachowicz | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Derrick Lewis | def. | Marcos Rogério de Lima | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:33 | |
| Lightweight | Bobby Green | def. | Tony Ferguson | Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 3 | 4:54 | |
| Welterweight | Kevin Holland | def. | Michael Chiesa | Submission (brabo choke) | 1 | 2:39 | |
| Preliminary card (ABC / ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Gabriel Bonfim | def. | Trevin Giles | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 1:13 | |
| Catchweight (128.5 lb) | C.J. Vergara | def. | Vinicius Salvador | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Roman Kopylov | def. | Claudio Ribeiro | KO (head kick) | 2 | 0:33 | |
| Welterweight | Jake Matthews | def. | Darrius Flowers | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 2:37 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Uroš Medić | def. | Matthew Semelsberger | TKO (spinning backfist and punches) | 3 | 2:36 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Miranda Maverick | def. | Priscila Cachoeira | Submission (armbar) | 3 | 2:11 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[21]
The following is the limited reported payout to the athletes as reported to the Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission. The athletes were able to choose whether or not they wanted to disclose their purse to the public. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the UFC.[22]
