UFC 291 Aftermath: What Made Gaethje So Effective Against Poirier

Blaine Henry/Sherdog.com illustration

UFC 291 delivered—and to cap things off, Justin Gaethje evened things up with Dustin Poirier by knocking him out in Round 2 with a spectacular high kick, avenging his loss from 2018. Gaethje has changed dramatically since that first fight and a lot of those changes were made specifically for this rematch. Today, we are getting down and nerdy with UFC 291 Aftermath!

Gaethje: Controlled Chaos

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of this fight, I want to address something that I overlooked in the UFC 291 Beforemath article: the elevation. This fight was in Salt Lake City, Utah which is 4,200 feet above sea level. Justin Gaethje trains with Trevor Wittman in…