Is UFC 291 the Card of the Year?

The BMF champion is a new, and maybe permanent, title in the UFC—and it’s awarded to the Baddest Motherf**ker. 

Originally, the BMF title was supposed to be a one-and-done opportunity when Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz fought in November 2019, which Masvidal won. 

But round two of the BMF championship is this weekend. 

The BMF title is respected in the UFC world as it represents grit and determination. Not any two fighters can fight for this title. It might be the start of a new legacy. 

So, who will become the second BMF?

As they meet for the second time, Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier and Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje will fight for the BMF title. 

The last time they stepped into the octagon together in April 2018, Poirier defeated Gaethje in round four by KO/TKO punches.

Poirier landed a perfect shot to put Gaethje in a position to lose, and although this happened, there isn’t 100% confidence that Poirier can do this again. If they had gone all five rounds, deciding who was the victor would have been tough. That makes this fight even more exciting because no one can confidently predict who will win in the rematch. 

Poirier is ranked No. 2 in the UFC lightweight division, and Gaethje at No. 3, and both have an almost equally impressive background. 

Gaethje has also beaten top contenders like Michael Chandler and Rafel Fiziev and is currently 24-4-0. 

Poirier has a 29-7-0 record but has beaten Conor McGregor twice and other top contenders like Michael Chandler, Dan Hooker, and Gaethje.

Nevertheless, it has been five years since these two MMA fighters met. Both have matured, changed their training, improved their technique, and become interim lightweight champions. 

Poirier is a slight favorite at -145 odds, and Gaethje with +125, and I hope the odds took another factor into account—Utah’s altitude. 

Gaethje trains in Denver, Colorado, and Poirier trains in South Florida. So Gaethje unquestioningly has a slight advantage of being accustomed to working out at a high elevation. 

Poirier is known to have superior cardio and can absorb strikes to keep moving forward, so that really has to come into play if he wants a chance of winning the BMF Championship. 

No matter who wins, this UFC fight will undoubtedly be entertaining to watch. As Poirier said on MMA Hour: 

“If this fight doesn’t get you excited, you’re not a fan of combat sports.”

The UFC 291 co-main event will feature a veteran and a new light heavyweight fighter—Jan Blachowicz and Alex “Poatan” Pereira. 

Blachowicz is 29-9-1, the third-ranked light heavyweight UFC fighter, and has a mean one-punch knock-out tactic. In fact, his goal is to do just that to Pereira to have a chance for the title fight to become the champion again. 

But Pereira is also well known for his power. So much so he’s already in the championship conversation. 

The Poatan is a fearsome, dangerous striker who had only been in the UFC for one and a half years before becoming the middleweight champion. 

Pereira is 7-2-0 and is coming into this matchup off of a loss to Israel Adesanya as his last fight in the middleweight class, where he was stripped of his title.

Side note: He might be in the correct division now because he’s one of those UFC fighters notoriously known for cutting too much weight to fit into a weight class. So this MMA fighter will need to shed little to nothing to weigh in at 205 on Friday, the day before the fight. 

This co-main event is neck and neck with odds of -110 for Pereira and -120 for Blachowicz—which is crazy considering Blachowicz is No. 3 in the division, and Pereira doesn’t even have his name on the board yet.

The fight is for either fighter, but I want to see Blachowicz win. The title was taken from him in October 2021 by Glover Teixeira—Pereira’s current coach. So there is a double motivation running through his veins.

Catch the action by ordering the PPV event through ESPN+.