Poirier vs Gaethje II

Who won Poirier vs Gaethje II?

Justin Gaethje beat Dustin Poirier by knockout in the 2nd round during the main event of UFC 291, on Saturday 29th July 2023 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

Poirier vs Gaethje II stats

Dustin Poirier stepped into the octagon with a record of 29 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 14 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 8 by submission.

Justin Gaethje made his way to the cage with a record of 24 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 19 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Dustin Poirier's 31st fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2011. Justin Gaethje marked his 13th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2017.

Dustin Poirier's UFC record stood at 22-8-0, while Justin Gaethje's came in at 8-5-0.

The stats suggested Gaethje had a massive power advantage over Poirier, boasting a 79% knock out percentage over Poirier's 48%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Poirier had a large advantage over Gaethje, boasting a 28% submission rate over Gaethje's 4%.

Dustin Poirier was the same age as Justin Gaethje, at 35 years old.

Gaethje had a height advantage of 2 inches over Poirier. Despite this, he had a 3-inch reach advantage.

Poirier was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 8 more fights, and made his debut in 2009, 2 years and 3 months earlier than Gaethje, whose first professional fight was in 2011. He had fought 23 more professional rounds, 89 to Gaethje's 66.

Poirier vs Gaethje II form

Poirier had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Michael Chandler at UFC 281 on 12th November 2022 by submission in the 3rd round at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 on 11th December 2021 by submission in the 3rd round in their UFC Lightweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Conor McGregor at UFC 264 on 10th July 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 257 on 23rd January 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

He was victorious against Dan Hooker at UFC Vegas 4 on 27th June 2020 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Justin Gaethje had stopped 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on 9th May 2020 by knockout in the 5th round at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Donald Cerrone at UFC on ESPN+ 16 on 14th September 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 2 on 30th March 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, United States.

Before that, he was victorious against James Vick at UFC Fight Night 135 on 25th August 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln.

He had been beaten by Dustin Poirier at UFC on FOX 29 on 14th April 2018 by knockout in the 4th round at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Dustin Poirier had been fighting more than Justin Gaethje.

Going to this contest, Dustin Poirier had last fought 1 year, 8 months and 12 days ago, while Justin Gaethje's last outing had been 4 years, 2 months and 15 days ago.

Poirier's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years and 27 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 24 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

Gaethje's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 3 months and 10 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Poirier vs Gaethje II?

Dustin Poirier was a 33/50 (-150) favourite going into the contest, while Justin Gaethje made his way into the ring at 5/4 (+130) with oddsmakers.