Significant Stats | UFC 291: Poirier vs Gaethje 2

Key Stats: 14 finishes (tied 5th all-time), 10 KO/TKO wins (tied 6th all-time), 6.18 strikes landed per minute (5th all-time among LW)

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What It Means: Poirier is as durable, gritty and powerful as they get at 155 pounds. The perennial contender possesses some of the best boxing in the division. His jab is powerful, and he is accurate with his power left hand. “The Diamond” does his best work up close, where he can land thudding hooks up top and to the body. He has unique composure in a firefight, picking his spots to unload power shots when his opponent might be fading.

Justin Gaethje

Key Stats: 7.38 strikes landed per minute (8th all-time), 60.2% significant strike accuracy (1st all-time among LW), 11 total fight night bonuses (tied 5th all-time among LW)

What It Means: “The Highlight” is usually your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter because he is all action all the time. Gaethje’s best strikes are his leg kicks, which he goes to early and often before working his way up to his opponent’s head. He can throw them at closer distances to start or end combos. His striking is simple, but powerful. Gaethje possesses a nasty check hook and rear uppercut. When Gaethje is fighting calmly, he has a really strong jab, and his pace rarely slows down throughout a fight.

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What to Look For in the Fight: This is one is a surefire banger. Maybe it won’t have the emotional swings of the first encounter – rematches rarely do – but both men don’t know how to fight in a conservative way, despite their best efforts. Gaethje destroyed Poirier’s lead leg before, but Poirier eventually found his range to counter that strike over the top, which led to the finishing sequence. Gaethje is a much calmer fighter these days, so how he keeps the distance while pressing Poirier on the backfoot is crucial. Poirier will have to find his windows to counter when Gaethje increases the pace. Poirier knows he can hurt Gaethje badly, but he can’t get reckless, either. There probably won’t be much grappling involved, but Gaethje is crafty in scrambles while Poirier has slick submissions himself.

Co-Main Event: Jan Błachowicz vs Alex Pereira

Jan Błachowicz

Key Stats: 53.3% takedown accuracy (4th all-time LHW), 13:00 average fight time (9th longest all-time among LHW), 6 knockdowns landed (tied 3rd)

What It Means: Błachowicz is a crafty, powerful veteran whose skills are often underrated in the shadow of his “Legendary Polish Power.” The former light heavyweight champion is a smart striker with good low kicks and a nice jab from the outside. He is particularly dangerous with hooks off the break in the clinch. Błachowicz is a strong grappler, as well, with an opportunistic eye for submissions while also maintaining heavy top control.

Alex Pereira

Key Stats: 59.3% significant strike accuracy (4th all-time among MW), 5.23 strikes landed per minute (8th all-time among MW), 73% takedown defense

What It Means: The former middleweight champion is as lethal a striker as they come on the roster. “Poatan” has snappy and fast low kicks that are hard to time or read, and everyone knows about the nuclear left hook he possesses. When Pereira has his range and timing, he starts to pick his shots with great aggressiveness, and if he gets momentum moving forward, he is awfully dangerous. His defensive grappling is pretty good, considering his late start in MMA, but how that translates up to light heavyweight is yet to be seen. He earned belts in two divisions while fighting under the Glory kickboxing banner, but replicating that success in MMA is a question mark given the grappling prowess of his foes.

UFC 291 COUNTDOWN: Full Episode | Poirier vs Gaethje | Błachowicz vs Pereira 

What to Look For in the Fight: Pereira is thrown into the fire in his light heavyweight debut. Błachowicz owns a win over Israel Adesanya, a fight in which he took full advantage of his size and outgrappled the middleweight champion. He also more than held his own in the striking department against Adesanya, so he should be able to do the same against Pereira. That said, Pereira definitely has a better frame for light heavyweight than Adesanya, and his one-shot power is notable. Pereira will have to be mindful of his footwork, but he often has great balance when attacking on the feet. If he’s not, expect Błachowicz to shoot early and often.

Other Fights to Watch (Stephen Thompson vs Michel Pereira, Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Holland)

Stephen Thompson

Key Stats: 10 knockdowns landed (tied 4th all-time among WW), 8 total fight night bonuses (tied 3rd all-time among WW), 14:51 average fight time (5th longest)

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What It Means: “Wonderboy” is a unique fighter with a karate-based style that has made him a tough target to hit for years. He is a master of lateral movement in his wide stance, always ready to dart in and out of range while setting traps for his opponent. His lead leg out of his orthodox stance and rear leg out of southpaw are active weapons for him to manage distance and hit for power, respectively. While so many of his punches come straight down the pipe, he is an expert in creating angles for himself to find a home for those strikes, as well.

Michel Pereira

Key Stats: 54.2% significant strike accuracy (5th all-time among WW), +1.31 striking differential (9th), 55% takedown accuracy (3rd)

What It Means: Pereira is perhaps the most unpredictable fighter on the roster. The Brazilian is a uniquely explosive athlete whose acrobatics in the cage have created their own headlines, but when Pereira is locked-in on the task at hand, he is a wild dude. His kickboxing has shades of capoeira, and when he gets loose, his angles and strikes are hard to see, let alone defend. Whether he is spinning, leaping, flipping or otherwise, Pereira is more than just style. When he keeps things simple, he is a plus-athlete who can outmuscle opponents in clinches and is often the faster fighter in the early stages of the fight.

MORE: Poirier's Best Fights | Gaethje's Best Fights

What to Look For in the Fight: This should be a hurricane of fun striking, conventional and otherwise. Thompson is so defensively sound that it’ll be interesting to see how Pereira navigates tracking him down to land his power shots. For all his flash, Pereira is lethally powerful and creative. How “Wonderboy” deals with that and finds a home for his own strikes is something to watch. Thompson is more than comfortable picking and choosing his shots and scoring points from the outside, and if Pereira’s cardio fails, Thompson can pick up the pace. Thompson’s body kicks are particularly powerful, which could help drain Pereira’s gas tank. That said, Pereira is always good for an out of nowhere-type strike to end things early.

Michael Chiesa

Key Stats: 54.7% control time percentage (5th all-time among WW), 0.79 strikes absorbed per minute (1st all-time among WW), 77.8% takedown accuracy (1st all-time among WW)

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What It Means: Chiesa is a grinder. While his striking has gotten better, he wants to strike to work toward a grappling exchange more often than not. He is an exhaustive grappler, as well. If his first shot doesn’t ground his foe, he chains attempts together beautifully. His timing on shots is also strong, and he hustles through those scrambles to end up on top and in control. “Maverick” loves to get to his opponents back and work from there, often for a rear naked choke, but he is also adept at maintaining control on top.

Kevin Holland

Key Stats: 4.12 strikes landed per minute, 2.98 strikes absorbed per minute, 50% takedown defense

What It Means: “Trailblazer” has looked strong since moving down to welterweight. His power and speed translated down from 185, and his defensive grappling improved tremendously. Holland has a knack for catching opponents on the end of his long strikes for optimum power.

What to Look For in the Fight: This is a striker-vs-grappler matchup through and through. Holland’s defensive wrestling looks better at 170, but Chiesa isn’t going to be deterred from a couple missed shots. Chiesa will have to be mindful of knees and elbows coming his way when he clinches up with Holland, but he should find himself dictating the pace once he is locked up with the Texan.