UFC 291: 5 Preliminary Card Fights to Watch

UFC 291 is bringing a stacked and action-packed card to Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, on Saturday. The pay-per-view headliner is a rematch between lightweights Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje with the BMF Belt on the road. The belt hadn’t been fought for since Jorge Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz in November 2019.

Poirier defeated Gaethje by way of fourth-round TKO in what was broadly thought-about the 2018 Battle of the Yr. Gaethje will search for revenge whereas Poirier will look to re-accomplish the feat. Each males are former interim light-weight champions.

Former 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz and former middleweight champion Alex Pereira are set to duel with title implications at mild heavyweight within the co-main occasion.

The primary card is certain to deliver the warmth, however so will the prelims. The UFC 291 undercard boasts a former title challenger, motion fighters, prospects, and extra. Listed below are 5 prelim fights you may’t miss:

Derrick Lewis vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Former heavyweight title challenger Lewis takes on a rejuvenated Rogerio de Lima on the undercard. “The Black Beast” finds himself on the undercard in a surprising flip of occasions after having misplaced three straight and 4 of 5. However his one-hit KO energy and title worth maintain him as a should watch. It’s not typically a recurring most important eventer is on the prelims – Lewis hasn’t fought as a prelim since he beat Damian Grabowski in February 2016.

Lewis will look to snap his skid in opposition to Rogerio de Lima, who’s 6-3 since shifting as much as heavyweight. “Pezao’s” resume contains wins over former champ Andrei Arlovski, the beforehand undefeated Waldo Cortes-Acosta, and Ben Rothwell. Lewis would undoubtedly be one in every of his two greatest wins.

Lewis, who fought Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title and Cyril Gane for the interim heavyweight title, has a formidable listing of scalps: former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov, Chris Daukaus, Aleksei Oleinik, Marcin Tybura, Travis Browne, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Roy Nelson, and Ilir Latifi.

Lewis wants a win over Rogerio de Lima to remain related for one final title push, whereas “Pezao” can catapult himself into the land of larger fights if he vanquishes “The Black Beast.” There’s rather a lot on the road.

Trevin Giles vs. Gabriel Bonfim

The undefeated welterweight prospect Bonfim, who’s 14-0, will look to remain good in opposition to his hardest take a look at but in Giles.

Bonfim made good on his UFC debut, submitting Mounir Lazzez by way of mounted guillotine choke in simply 49 seconds. Bonfim submitted Trey Waters by way of Von Flue choke on the Contender Sequence in below a spherical. He has solified himself as a blue chip to observe.

Giles will look to spoil the social gathering. His wins embrace Roman Dolidze, James Krause, Louis Cosce and Preston Parsons. The Dolidze unanimous choice win stands out essentially the most – up a weight class in opposition to the present No. 9-ranked middleweight. Giles has proven flashes of being a harmful participant at 170, however he’ll must put all of it collectively to cease the surging Bonfim.

Matthew Semelsberger vs. Uros Medic

Medic, an intriguing prospect with stopping energy (100% end fee in eight professional wins), attracts Semelsberger in his welterweight debut. Medic rebounded from his first loss to Jalin Turner – not a nasty loss by any stretch of the creativeness – with a TKO over Omar Morales. He attracts a troublesome litmus take a look at in Semelsberger, although.

Semelsberger has made a behavior of turning away prospects. He handed AJ Fletcher his first defeat and Carlton Minus his second. He additionally took a win over Jake Matthews for his newest victory.

The underrated “Semi the Jedi” has made a behavior of crashing hype trains, and he’ll look to show away “The Physician” in related trend. Merely put, Medic is legit if he makes his 170-pound debut and turns away Semelsberger.

Roman Kopylov vs. Claudio Ribeiro

Kopylov has re-established himself as somebody to observe at 185 when he snapped a two-fight skid with two wins in a row over Punahele Soriano and Alessio di Chirico. His losses got here by the hands of Albert Duraev and Karl Roberson.

Kopylov is an thrilling finisher – all however one in every of his professional wins (his debut) have come by way of T/KO. Ribeiro will look to not solely keep away from the Russian’s spotlight reel however add to his personal. Ribeiro completed Joseph Holmes with floor and pound strikes, rebounding from a loss to Abdul Razak Alhassan. All of Ribeiro’s professional wins have come by way of T/KO. A win over Kopylov could be Ribeiro’s largest but.

In a struggle between placing finishers, somebody is probably going going out in what needs to be a barn burner.

CJ Vergara vs. Vinicius Salvador

Vergara and Salvador will scrap in what needs to be a enjoyable contest between two flyweights. Each males will look to get a crack at a top-15 125’er with a win.

Vergara is 2-2 within the UFC, having alternated wins and losses since becoming a member of off a Contender Sequence end of Bruno Korea. His wins came visiting Daniel Lacerda and Kleydson Rodrigues, whereas his losses had been to the highly-touted Tatsuro Taira and Ode Osbourne. Vergara has confirmed himself scrappy and hopes to start out his first UFC successful streak at Salvador’s expense.

Salvador will probably be on the lookout for his first UFC win after dropping his debut to Victor Altamirano. All of Salvador’s wins have come by way of end (13 T/KO, 1 submission), whereas Vergara has seven T/KOs in 11 victories. Followers ought to anticipate a stand-up affair filled with high-paced motion with a great chance it doesn’t go the complete 15.

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