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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Matt Erickson

UFC 291: How to watch Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 ‘BMF’ title fight, start time, Salt Lake City fight card, odds, more

UFC Dustin Poirier BMF Justin Gaethje ESPN UFC 291 (Event) Alex Pereira Jan Blachowicz Darrius Flowers Michel Pereira

The UFC returns to Utah on Saturday for UFC 291 in Salt Lake City. For just the second time, the “BMF” title will be up for grabs atop the card.

Here’s how to watch UFC 291 with two ex-interim lightweight champions in the main event.

Broadcast and streaming info

UFC 291 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET and streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The prelims air on ABC and ESPN, and also stream on ESPN+ beginning at 8 p.m. ET. And a trio of early prelims streams on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Main event: Dustin Poirier

Nov 12, 2022; New York, NY, USA; Dustin Poirier (red gloves) defeats Michael Chandler (blue gloves) during UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports

In the headliner, former interim lightweight champion Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) takes on Justin Gaethje in a rematch. The longtime fighters, each known for a propensity to get into violent slugfests, fought in 2018 – a fourth-round TKO for Poirier. This time, the “BMF” title will go to the winner. It’s essentially a trophy belt invented for Nate Diaz’s 2019 fight with Jorge Masvidal. Since he lost a title challenge against then-champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019, Poirier has won four of five, including two against Conor McGregor.

Main event: Justin Gaethje

Apr 14, 2018; Glendale, AZ, USA; Justin Gaethje during UFC Fight Night at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will be out to not only capture the “BMF” belt for his trophy case, but also avenge his 2018 loss to Poirier. After that Poirier setback, Gaethje won four straight fights against James Vick, Edson Barboza, Donald Cerrone and Tony Ferguson – all by knockout, and all of which won post-fight bonuses. The Ferguson win picked up a double bonus. But in his 2020 title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov, he was submitted in the second round. In a 2022 vacant lightweight title fight, he was submitted by Charles Oliveira. But he also has Fight of the Night wins over Michael Chandler and Rafael Fiziev, the latter of which came in March.

Co-main event: Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pereira

Former light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) will try to take a key step toward another title shot when he takes on ex-middleweight titleholder Alex Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who is moving up from 185 pounds in his first fight since he lost the belt back to Israel Adesanya. The title recently was vacated by Jamahal Hill due to an injury, but the UFC has not yet announced who will fight for the vacant strap. The winner of this one can expect to be one of the two, most likely. Blachowicz lost the 205-pound title to Glover Teixeira in 2021. After a win over Aleksandar Rakic, he had a split draw with Magomed Ankalaev this past December for the vacant title, which is what allowed Hill to swoop in a few weeks later to win it against Teixeira.

Featured bout: Michel Pereira vs. Stephen Thompson

Dec 3, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Stephen Thompson (red gloves) reacts after fighting Kevin Holland (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) got back in the win column this past December against Kevin Holland after a pair of decision losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad in 2021 set him significantly back in the title picture at 170 pounds. “Wonderboy” will try to make it two in a row when he takes on Michel Pereira (28-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in a fight that was rescheduled from a planned June 10 date. Pereira has five straight wins, including a Fight of the Night split call over Santiago Ponzinibbio. But that was his most recent action, and it came 14 months ago.

UFC debut: Darrius Flowers

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 23: Darrius Flowers reacts after his TKO victory over Amiran Gogoladze of Georgia in a welterweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season six, week five at UFC APEX on August 23, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

The only debutant on Saturday’s card is 28-year-old Chicago native Darrius Flowers (12-5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who takes on Jake Matthews (18-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) in a welterweight bout on the prelims. With UFC welterweight standout Belal Muhammad as one of his training partners and mentors, Flowers has four straight wins, including two knockouts under the LFA banner and a first-round highlight-reel slam TKO win on Dana White’s Contender Series nearly a year ago. He had to pull out of a planned UFC debut in February, but now will get back in the cage about 11 months after his DWCS win.