UFC 291 rundown: Gaethje's extensive highlight reel gets new No. 1 moment

Justin Gaethje captured the BMF title on Saturday, defeating Dustin Poirier by second-round knockout in a highly anticipated rematch that headlined UFC 291 in Salt Lake City.

In the co-feature, Alex Pereira won his light heavyweight debut with a split decision over former champ Jan Blachowicz.

Here are five takeaways from the pay-per-view card.

Gaethje produced the singular biggest moment of his career

Gaethje has delivered a ton of highlights in 29 fights as a professional - his nickname is "The Highlight" for goodness' sake. He's one of the most exciting fighters in MMA history. His fights with Michael Johnson, Poirier (in 2018), and Michael Chandler will go down as some of the best in lightweight history. His knockouts of Donald Cerrone and Edson Barboza were devastating. His masterful demolition of Tony Ferguson to win the interim title in 2020 was his career highlight at the time - as it set up an undisputed title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. And there were also his bangers with Luis Palomino years ago in World Series of Fighting.

Yes, Gaethje's win over Poirier wasn't for an undisputed or interim title. Still, none of his performances have felt more monumental than what he pulled off at UFC 291.

For starters, it's the new front-runner for Knockout of the Year, likely surpassing Israel Adesanya's finish of Pereira at UFC 287 in April on most ballots. Eerily reminiscent of Leon Edwards' head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman in the same building last August, Gaethje threw his jab and hid a right high kick behind it, melting Poirier in a way no one had before. It was one of the most stunning finishes in recent memory.

Then there's the revenge aspect of it. Poirier beat Gaethje by fourth-round TKO in 2018. After that, they went their separate ways, but they always seemed to be on a collision course. Poirier and Gaethje remained two of the top lightweights in the world, both challenging for the title multiple times. That April 2018 fight - which was competitive until Poirier caught Gaethje with a huge punch early in the fourth - was surely one Gaethje had wanted to get back ever since. And there was no better way Gaethje could have avenged that defeat than by sending Poirier into orbit with a ferocious head kick.

Finally, the win likely puts Gaethje in line for a third title shot against the winner of Islam Makhachev versus Charles Oliveira 2. That fight headlines UFC 294 in October. Gaethje is 34 years old and doesn't plan to hang around for much longer. After a win over Rafael Fiziev in March, he said he wanted to make one last title run. Had he lost to Poirier, that run would've been over, the opportunity to reign supreme over the 155-pound division gone for good. But now, Gaethje - unless he decides to take a money fight with Conor McGregor - is once again one win away from undisputed UFC gold.

That's how important beating Poirier was. That kick is going to be at the start of his highlight reel forever.

Prochazka-Pereira is the fight to make

Pereira showed some new wrinkles to his ever-evolving MMA game in the fight with Blachowicz.

Blachowicz took Pereira to the ground in Round 1 and held him there for most of it, keeping him in place with a body triangle. But Pereira fended off Blachowicz's rear-naked choke attempts well and made it back to his corner.

In the final two rounds, Pereira rallied to beat Blachowicz in what was mostly a striking battle. There was no emphatic knockout as we've come to expect from the Brazilian, and it wasn't the most entertaining fight overall, but a win is a win. Pereira is now one of the top light heavyweights in the UFC. And that performance should be enough to set up a vacant title fight against former champion Jiri Prochazka.

As we wrote two weeks ago, when Jamahal Hill relinquished the 205-pound belt, Prochazka versus Pereira would be outstanding matchmaking; it has the potential to be a battle for the ages. If Prochazka and Pereira are ready to go, the UFC's December pay-per-view event seems like a great spot for the fight.

Lewis is a national treasure

Derrick Lewis took full advantage of his last-minute addition to the UFC 291 main card.

In the span of a few minutes, Lewis crushed Marcos Rogerio de Lima with a flying knee Jorge Masvidal style, finished him off with ground-and-pound to reclaim the UFC's all-time knockout record, took off his shorts and swung them in the air, did his best impression of the DX Crotch Chop, had yet another hilarious postfight interview with Joe Rogan, and then - perhaps most interestingly - announced he was a free agent.

It was perfect. And it was one of the greatest postfight celebrations from a man who's had more than his share of iconic postfight moments in the Octagon.

"The Black Beast" was riding a three-fight losing streak going into Saturday. That's, of course, what made this performance so sweet. It had been 19 months since Lewis had celebrated a victory. The MMA world had written him off as a heavyweight contender. And there were many questions about what his future in the UFC looked like - or if it would exist at all - if he lost to De Lima.

Beating De Lima in 33 seconds doesn't necessarily prove that Lewis, 38, is "back" because it's hard to ignore those losses to Tai Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich, and Serghei Spivac. But it did show that he has at least something left in the tank and can still beat lower-level heavyweights. It was great to see. When Lewis is winning, MMA is better off for it.

Time for Ferguson to move on

Ferguson's submission loss to Bobby Green was a sad - and sometimes difficult - watch.

It wasn't as brutal as, say, Gaethje's overwhelming finish in their interim title fight or Chandler's hellacious front-kick knockout in 2022, so that's good at least. But there were still no signs of the old "El Cucuy" in sight, and that's a pretty good telltale that the man who somehow won 12 fights in a row in the UFC's deepest division is gone for good.

If the UFC wants to give Ferguson one more fight as his swan song, then fair enough - he does deserve a proper send-off as an all-time great 155-pounder. But if it wasn't already clear before Green pieced him up on the feet and then put him to sleep in the waning seconds of the fight, Ferguson's time has come. It's time to flip the page to a new chapter and move on.

Holland should stay at 170 pounds

As soon as Kevin Holland tapped out Michael Chiesa with a D'Arce choke, he hinted that he may return to the middleweight division. That's where he had his first 13 UFC bouts before dropping down to welterweight in 2022. As much as weight-cutting sucks, that would be a bad move for Holland's career prospects.

This win over Chiesa was arguably Holland's biggest to date. Chiesa was ranked No. 12 at welterweight, which means Holland will finally break into the top 15 next week. And Holland made it look easy. He was the betting favorite, but no one expected him to submit a grappler - never mind early in the first round.

Despite losing to Stephen Thompson late last year, it's not crazy to think that Holland, 30, could continue to improve and become a welterweight title contender in the foreseeable future. Even if he isn't good enough, why not try? This is the most momentum he's ever had at 170 pounds.

As a middleweight, Holland did well but hit a ceiling. He lost to top contenders like Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson. He struggled to deal with wrestlers and often had a size disadvantage. Holland didn't cut much weight while fighting at 185 pounds. At 170 pounds, he's not as undersized. And his wrestling defense was strong against Chiesa. This is his division. Holland needs to realize that.