MMA is thriving in Utah, and these UFC 291 fighters can't wait to show why

SALT LAKE CITY — More than a decade ago, when the Ultimate Fighting Championship attempted to host Fight Night in Utah only to move the event to San Diego over concerns about staging an event on a Sunday, there were ultimate concerns about mixed martial arts' place on the Wasatch Front.

Fast forward to 2023, and UFC has found a home in the Beehive State.

No. 2-ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier and No. 3 Justin Gaethje will contest the vacant BMF belt in UFC 291 Saturday night at the Delta Center in the second-ever Pay-Per-View card to come to Salt Lake City. But the 12-fight card is more than just a rematch of UFC's Fight of the Year in 2018.

It may be the deepest card, top-to-bottom, in the promotion's recent history, and it won't even host a championship bout.

Fitting for the record-setting $4.3 million success just one year ago.

"These people love fighting," said Gaethje, who predicted "the most riveting fight of the year" in an interview with ESPN promoting the bout. "The show they got last year was awesome. But I'm going to give them a better show than last time.

"I love fighting for people, and these people are going to appreciate it. I love that."

It will formally be a rematch of a fight Poirier won by fourth-round TKO in 2018, but it could be so much more. Poirier is tied for the most Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC history with Nate Diaz, Frankie Edgar and Edson Barboza, just one more than Gaethje's seven $50,000 checks for the bonus.

Also, the 34-year-old Arizona native who fights out of Colorado says he wouldn't consider the five-year gap between fights as a "rematch," either.

"Especially with the five years in between, we're both completely different people," Gaethje said. "Different fighters. With age comes wisdom. I've grown, he's grown. I remember he's got a really nice left hand, a beautiful left hand. I'm sure he's been working on that."

Salt Lake City, then, is a fitting host for the scrap, as well as the other fights on the main card and beyond.

Welterweight Michael Chiesa hopes to wear John Stockton's Utah Jazz jersey — No. 12 and all — to the official pre-match press conference Thursday at the Salt Palace Convention Center to honor his childhood hero.

The Colorado native moved to the Spokane Valley when he was young and grew up idolizing the former Jazz point guard and NBA Hall of Famer. Stockton would regularly frequent the antiques shop of his grandmother when he was in Spokane, he said, sometimes coming to the shop after hours to support the local business.

"There are certainly cities that are special to me," said Chiesa, who won The Ultimate Fighter 15 in 2012 to jumpstart his career en route to his current 18-6 record. "Fighting in Salt Lake City, where one of Spokane's finest athletes played, is the best. I've always been a Stockton fan; I worked for one of his cousins before I went full time."

For another fighter, getting on the card in Utah was even more personal.

Bobby Green is a California native who still fights out of Fontana, but he'll return to Salt Lake City after training in Utah prior to his UFC debut in 2013, when he was still with Strikeforce.

The 36-year-old lightweight said he still owes a lot to Jeremy Horn, the 47-year-old former UFC fighter from Omaha who fought out of Salt Lake City and still owns a gym in Sandy.

"This is symbolic to me," Green said. "Salt Lake means the world to me; I want to give back. … Jeremy gave me so much, and I haven't forgotten him to this day. I just want to honor him, and give back a little for all of the things he's given to me."

The card will bring shine a light on the state of Utah, much like UFC has in its two previous forays to the state in helping tell the story of its people, said Utah Sports Commission CEO Jeff Robbins, whose organization has helped bring 70 events to the Beehive State from professional golf to motocross to Tony Hawk's skating exhibition and beyond.

"I think the story is a lot more diverse and dynamic of a story than a lot of people think," Robbins said.

There are no formal title bouts on the card Saturday night, but the vacant BMF title will be up for grabs in the main event between Poirier and Gaethje. White instituted the belt after Nate Diaz called out Jorge Masvidal at UFC 241, calling for a fight to determine "the baddest (expletive)" in the UFC.

The belt was vacated when Masvidal retired after UFC 287, leaving it open for the winner of Gaethje-Poirier 2. Both fighters have said the winner of the five-round bout should get a shot at the lightweight title next.

Three events on the main card feature top-15 ranked bouts, including the No. 2-ranked middleweight Alex Pereira moving up to fight No. 3-ranked light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz in the secondary main event.

No. 15 Michel Pereira will fight No. 7 Stephen Thompson in a top-15 welterweight bout, while Marcos Rogerio de Lima's recent entry at No. 15 in the heavyweight rankings gives the preliminary card a top-15 bout against No. 10 Derrick Lewis.

"I'm very grateful for the ranking," Lima said in Portuguese. "Believe me; after a fight, I do have a couple of names that I'd love to go against next."

The card will also match up Green with lightweight Tony Ferguson, two outspoken fan favorites in the promotion.

"I'm here at UFC 291 because I asked for this," Ferguson said. "I asked for a fight to get back into it. The last couple of fights, I haven't really been into it."

For Poirier, the fight represents a beacon of longevity. The Louisiana native who fights out of Florida said he'll have conversations about a forthcoming shot at the belt if he wins Saturday.

But first, the former featherweight champion with 14 career knockouts has his own plans.

"I haven't been told that the winner is fighting for a belt," Poirier said. "But I assume that. … The plan is to get my hand raised, and then assess the next fight. It's all just noise until Saturday happens, though. I'm fully focused on 25 minutes with Justin. It's war time."

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