Justin Gaethje made a statement, settled a score and earned himself a new shiny belt, defeating Dustin Poirier via second-round knockout to claim the “BMF” belt at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After a competitive first round, Gaethje found a home for a head kick that sent Poirier to the mat and ended the night early.
Gaethje got off to a hot start in the first round. He had success with his signature leg kicks, working at taking away Poirier’s lead leg and using it set up more of his offense.
It wasn’t just one-way traffic, though. Poirier responded with sharp boxing and opened up a cut on Gaethje’s face in the opening round.
That would be the extent of the damage for The Highlight, though. After landing all those leg kicks he went upstairs with one that would end the fight and set the MMA world on fire.
Not only did Gaethje leave with a belt around his waist but he also avenged a loss. Poirier claimed first blood in their two-fight series with a TKO victory back in 2018.
It’s fitting that the pair were brought back together to compete for the promotional title. The Diamond had 13 total performance bonuses coming into the fight while Gaethje had earned 11.
The title is a fun accolade, but Gaethje still has his eyes on a bigger prize.
“This is awesome, but other than legacy it doesn’t do anything near as much as a world championship belt,” Gaethje told reporters. “I think this catapults either one of us, the winner of this fight, into that [title] fight, and that’s all that means right there.”
Gaethje has come up short in two different title bids. Losses to Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov are the only losses he’s suffered since his 2018 loss to Poirier.
With a win this big, he’s going to have a strong case to meet the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira 2 which is set to go down at UFC 294 in October.
