A lightweight rematch between former title contenders Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje will headline UFC 291 on July 29th in Salt Lake City, Utah.
And sweetening the deal for the two stars, Dana White has announced that due to Jorge Masvidal now being retired, the symbolic ‘BMF’ (Bad Motherf****r) title will be up for grabs for Poirier and Gaethje.
The two lightweights have fought once before in an action-packed scrap at UFC On FOX 29 in 2018 that Poirier would win by TKO early in the fourth round.
Since then Poirier has gone 6-2 in the division, earning wins over the likes of Conor McGregor (x2), Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, Dan Hooker and most recently Michael Chandler, with his two defeats coming in title fights against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira.
As for Gaethje, he essentially has mirred Poirier’s form, having also gone 6-2, including title losses to the aforementioned Nurmagomedov and Oliveira, while his victories came against James Vick, Edson Barboza, Donald Cerrone, Tony Ferguson, Michael Chandler and most recently Rafael Fiziev.
All of which leaves Poirier ranked No.2 and Gaethje No.3 ahead of their BMF title clash, which may well also put the winner in pole position to fight for the lightweight title at a later date.
