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 14th 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 9-5-0.

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 36 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 20 more professional rounds, 89 to Gaethje's 69.

Poirier vs Gaethje II form

Poirier had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 on 1st June 2024 by submission in the 5th round in their UFC Lightweight championship fight at Prudential Center, Newark, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 on 9th March 2024 by knockout in the 2nd round at Kaseya Center, Miami.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 on 29th July 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City.

Before that, he had beaten Michael Chandler at UFC 281 on 12th November 2022 by submission in the 3rd round at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

He had been defeated by 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.

Gaethje had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Rafael Fiziev at UFC 286 on 18th March 2023 by majority decision in their 3 round contest at o2 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Previous to that, he had lost to Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 on 7th May 2022 by submission in the 1st round in their UFC Lightweight championship fight at Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Going into that contest, he was victorious against Michael Chandler at UFC 268 on 6th November 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Before that, he had been beaten by Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 on 24th October 2020 by submission in the 2nd round in their UFC Lightweight championship fight at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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.

Activity check

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

Going to this contest, Dustin Poirier had last fought 11 months and 22 days ago, while Justin Gaethje's last outing had been 2 years, 2 months and 5 days ago.

Poirier's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 5 months and 12 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 8 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

Gaethje's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 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.