Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are two former interim UFC Lightweight interim champions, who’ve already met once in the Octagon. The first Poirier vs. Gaethje fight took place in 2018 and “The Diamond” won by TKO in round 4. The betting odds suggest he’s gonna beat “The Highlight” once again, but Gaethje looks determined to
Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje 2 UFC 291 Odds, Time, and Prediction
Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are two former interim UFC Lightweight interim champions, who’ve already met once in the Octagon. The first Poirier vs. Gaethje fight took place in 2018 and “The Diamond” won by TKO in round 4.
The betting odds suggest he’s gonna beat “The Highlight” once again, but Gaethje looks determined to prove everyone wrong.
| Moneyline | Odds |
|---|---|
| Dustin Poirier | -164 |
| Justin Gaethje | +128 |
*Odds taken from BetUS on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
When, Where, and How to Watch?
- Place: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Date: Saturday, July 29
- Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: PPV
Reasons Why Dustin Poirier is the Betting Favorite
Dustin Poirier is 29-7 overall (with one no contest), and has a 21-6 record in the UFC, which is the promotion he joined in 2011. Still, it took him some time to reach UFC stardom. “The Diamond” has fought for the title several times, but all of those fights happened within the last couple of years.
First, he won the interim lightweight title against Max Holloway in April 2019. He got a shot at the proper title a few months later, but Khabib Nurmagomedov beat him by submission. Fast-forward to 2021, and he fought for the title once again. This time, he lost to Charles Oliveira, once again by submission.
Those two losses remain his only defeats since 2016. And after losing to Oliveira, he got back on the winning track by beating Michael Chandler by submission, showing that grappling/wrestling isn’t his Achilles heel. And even if it were, that wouldn’t worry him much ahead of the Gaethje fight. The thing is that his opponent is all about striking.
Justin Gaethje Won’t Let His Archrival Beat Him Up Again
Justin Gaethje is 24-4 with two KO/TKO losses and two losses by submission. The latter happened to Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov in championship fights. When it comes to his knockout losses, Eddie Alvarez beat him in December 2017, and Poirier do the same a few months later.
However, since then, “The Diamond” has upped his striking (and strike-dodging) game. Sure, the average number of significant strikes he absorbs is still very high (7.66) but in two of his last four fights, we saw him get hit no more than 30 times in total.
In his most recent fight, he fought the striking maestro Rafael Fiziev, who was favored to win the fight. However, after three rounds of brutal boxing, Gaethje came out on top, winning by a majority decision.
Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje 2 Prediction
Justin Gaethje isn’t afraid to get hit, so Dustin Poirier is going to have to work hard to beat him again. He’ll probably land a lot of strikes, but we’re almost certain Gaethje will keep fighting until the end. And if he lands some takedowns or does some damage to Poirier, we wouldn’t be shocked to see him win by decision.
Pick: Justin Gaethje to win by decision
