JUSTIN GAETHJE AVENGED his 2018 defeat to Dustin Poirier last night in Salt Lake City, and claimed the symbolic BMF title in the process.
Gaethje gained revenge by scoring a spectacular knockout with a head kick in the second round at UFC 291.
Gaethje had vowed to show a different version of himself to the one that lost to Poirier five years ago. He showed patience in the first round, refusing to get drawn into a fire fight with Poirer.
In the second round, Gaethje drew Poirier on with his punches, setting up the head kick. When he connected, Poirier hit the canvas as Gaethje rushed in to fire another blow. Referee Herb Dean rushed in to stop the contest before further damage was done.
“You rarely get a chance at redemption,” Gaethje said afterwards. “We take a loss, we just have to go home and sit with it and it eats us away and we usually never get that chance. So to come back, to prove myself and I believed in myself the whole time I told Dustin he’s my favorite fighter on Earth. Luck and chance are a factor in this cage and I just thank god I came out on the right side this time.
“If you watch that [first] fight compared to this fight, it’s night and day. It was a tough lesson to learn but that man taught me that lesson and I think God for him.”
