UFC 291 recap

(Prelims)

UFC 291 was absolutely phenomenal and definitely lived up to standards.

To start the show off it was Miranda Maverick vs Priscila Cachoeira in the Women’s flyweight division. Miranda Maverick cruised to the victory, submitting her opponent in 2:11 seconds into the 3rd round by arm bar

In the welterweight division we saw an absolute firework show. Matthew Semelsberger looked really good, knocking down Medic in the first round and looking like he could finish the fight at any point. For the next two rounds it was Medic pouring it on Semelsberger which helped him earn a victory in 2:36 seconds into the 3rd round.

Another fight in the welterweight division we saw Jake Matthews take on Darrius Flowers in a bit of a weird fight. In the 2nd round Darrius Flowers got hit with a left kick into the body that briefly stopped the fight because Flowers tried to say it was a groin shot. Thankfully for him, the heel landed on the cup, but it was after he had already landed the body shot. This shouldn’t warrant a stop but nonetheless Jake Matthews did end up submitting him 2:37 seconds into the 2nd round.

Roman Kopylov landed a nasty head kick on Claudio Ribeiro 0:33 seconds into the 2nd round. It was a good fight while it lasted but congrats on the win to Roman.

A fight in the men’s flyweight division we saw CJ Vergara vs Vinicus Salvador in a slow paced fight. DC or Joe said it best “it’s like a sparring match. The fight was one of the only lackluster fights on the card. CJ Vergara did end up winning by unanimous decision.

Now this fight was fun and interesting while it lasted. Gabriel Bonfim is legit now holding a record of 15-0. All 15 wins came by stoppage. Bonfim is a one of the UFC’s rising stars and everybody should keep a close eye on him for the future of his career. Tonight he finished his fight 1:13 seconds into the FIRST round by submission. (guillotine)

(Main Event)

To kick off the main card we saw Kevin Holland Vs. Michael Chiesa in the welterweight division. Holland had a rough 2022 losing to both Khamzat Chimaev and Stephen Thompson. Michael Chiesa’s last fight was November 2021 where he faced Sean Brady and lost via Unanimous decision. In the first round Holland immediately kept pressure and stuffed both of Chiesa’s takedowns. All this led to the big knee that dropped him and allowed Holland to win 2:39 seconds into the 1st round due to submission (D’arce choke). This earned Kevin Holland his $50,000 bonus.

In the lightweight division we saw Tony Ferguson VS. Bobby Green.Tony Ferguson age 39 is looking towards the end of his career. Bobby Green has shown that he can compete within the lower ranks of the lightweight division with wins over Nasrat Haqparast and Al Iaquinta. In the first round Ferguson clipped Bobby Green straight to the chin, dropping Bobby for a brief moment. Later into the round Ferguson was caught with an eye poke and it momentarily stopped the fight. After this Bobby Green poured it on Tony and in the third round submitted Tony Ferguson 4:54 seconds into the 3rd round due to an (Arm triangle).

Now we get to move on to the big guys. In the heavyweight divsion we saw Derrick Lewis take on Marcos Rogerio de Lima, and this was one of the most memorable fights because of how unexpected everything played out. Right when the fight started Lewis flew a flying knee that knocked down his opponent and would eventually finish the fight 33 seconds of the first round by TKO. But that wasn’t the most exciting part, it was the celebration when he took his pants off and channeled in his inner DX. The crowd went bonkers and not one person was sitting down.

In the light-heavyweight division we saw former middleweight champion Alex Pereira take on former light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in a number 1 contender spot match.. Many expected this to be a fun fight but it was more of a strategic fight. We saw Jan takedown Pereira immediately and he would try doing that throughout the whole fight. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds Pereira started to connect with a lot of his punches and his kicks. Which helped him secure the victory by split decision.

Now it is time for the main event where we saw Dustin Poirier VS. Justin Gaethje 2 for the BMF title in the lightweight division. The rematch from their 2018 slugfest. Anytime you hear about these guys you can always expect an absolute show. This fight would determine who is next in line for the belt. In the first round we got what we had expected such as punches and kicks landing hard. Dustin would be the more successful fighter in that first round landing the cleaner shots and would take the round. Going into round 2 nobody could see what was about to come. 1:00 into the 2nd round we saw Justin Gaethje land one of the greatest head kicks of all time. It was almost reminiscent of last year’s knockout of Kamaru Usman, which happened in the same arena.