BREAKING: Two exciting fights added to UFC 291 card in July
While we’re still over a month away from UFC 291, the event is already shaping up to be a big one for the world’s biggest MMA promotion.
UFC 291 takes place on July 29 at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center, and features a headline bout pitting lightweight stars Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje against one another.
Poirier vs Gaethje 2 is OFFICIAL!
#UFC291 in Salt Lake City is going to be RIDICULOUS 🔥🔥 https://t.co/OYWxzUcJk5
The fight will see the promotion’s infamous ‘BMF’ title up for grabs, after it was technically vacated when previous champion Jorge Masvidal retired earlier this year.
To date, six more bouts have been confirmed for the event, including a light-heavyweight clash between Jan Blachowicz and Alex Pereira and a middleweight tilt between Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov.
Now, a further two fights have been revealed for the event by well-regarded MMA reporter Marcel Dorff.
Firstly, the journalist announced that middleweights Roman Kopylov and Claudio Ribeiro will square off at the show.
Roman Kopylov will fight Claudio Ribeiro at #UFC291 on July 29th. #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 #UFCSaltLakeCity https://t.co/9HAF1Ylb1x
Ribeiro is 1-1 in the octagon, and claimed his first win in the promotion in May over Joseph Holmes. Kopylov, meanwhile, is 2-2 in the promotion and has won his last two fights, most recently stopping Punahele Soriano.
Secondly, Dorff also announced a welterweight clash between Matthew Semelsberger and Yohan Lainesse.
Matthew Semelsberger will fight Yohan Lainesse at #UFC291 on July 29th. #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 #UFCSaltLakeCity https://t.co/W9wdyn0AOx
Semelsberger suffered a loss to Jeremiah Wells earlier this year, but he boasts an overall octagon record of 5-3. Lainesse, on the other hand, has lost two of his three bouts in the promotion after making his debut there in 2022.
While it is not yet official, it’s likely that both of these fights will take place on the preliminary card of the event.
UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje – what happened when ‘The Diamond’ met ‘The Highlight’ in 2018?
UFC 291’s headline bout will see Dustin Poirier clash with Justin Gaethje with the promotion’s ‘BMF’ title on the line.
However, it will not be the first time that the two lightweights have done battle inside the octagon.
The two men first squared off back in April 2018 in the headliner of a UFC event on the Fox network, and unsurprisingly, they produced a barnburner.
In the end, though, it was Poirier who came out on top. Despite absorbing plenty of punishment, ‘The Diamond’ turned up the heat on Gaethje in the fourth round, and ended up stopping him via TKO.
Will Poirier be able to get past ‘The Highlight’ for a second time in July? Only time will tell.
Watch highlights of Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje below.