UFC 291 Results: Justin Gaethje is the BMF, knocks out Dustin Poirier

If there was ever a stamp to be put on the UFC’s promotional Baddest Motherf**ker title, Justin Gaethje did so at UFC 291 on Saturday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

He laid Dustin Poirier out on the canvas with a brutal head-kick finish that left fans on their feet as their jaws dropped to the floor.

It was a strong opening frame from both fighters, Poirier attacking with kicks to the body, while Gaethje was perhaps more effective with his leg kicks. Gaethje pulled ahead early with some solid body shots and powerful cracks to the jaw.

But Poirier may have done enough to steal the round, staggering Poirier with a hard right hand, and at some point opening a cut over Gaethje’s left eye.

Round two started off much the way round one left off, both men serving up punch combinations, trying to find an opening for something bigger.

It was Gaethje who found something bigger. The crowd had traded “Poirier!” and “Gaethje!” chants as the round progressed, but Gaethje exploded amongst the fans at the Delta Center, bobbing to avoid a Poirier punch before unleashing the head kick from hell.

Poirier immediately crashed to the canvas. Referee Herb Dean came running across the cage, sliding in to get between Gaethje and Poirier just after Gaethje dropped a hammerfist to his downed and out opponent.

It was a finish befitting the title of the Baddest Motherf**ker championship left vacant by BMF OG Jorge Masvidal, who entered the cage to hand the BMF belt to Gaethje. Perhaps more importantly, it was Gathje’s redemption for having lost his first encounter with Poirier.

“Unlike any other sport on the earth, you rarely get a chance at redemption. To come back, prove myself, I believed in myself the whole time,” Gaethje told Joe Rogan in his UFC 291 post-fight victory interview.

“If you watch that (first) fight compared to this fight, it’s night and day.”

The BMF belt is a nice accolade, but it’s not a world championship. It’s not the UFC lightweight championship gold that Gaethje so desires.

So when Rogan asked, what’s next, of course Gaethje had an immediate answer. He wants a shot at the winner of the UFC 294 lightweight title fight between current champion Islam Makhachev and former titleholder Charles Oliveira. UFC 294 takes place Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.

“You know what I wanna do next. I want to fight for the championship.” He then declared, “I’m willing to roll the dice any f**king day.”