MMA News Roundup: UFC 291 Recap; Justin Gaethje Crowned UFC’s New BMF; Conor McGregor’s Call Out Dismissed by Justin Gaethje

With the recent wrap-up of UFC 291, it’s clear that the MMA industry will be humming with all new incidents. However, we are aware that life may be very stressful these days, which causes many fans to neglect the latest developments in our favorite sport. But don’t worry, we’ve got another edition of our MMA news roundup for you. We are here to provide you with information on a few major MMA-related happenings over the last 24 hours.

First, we will start off with a recap of UFC 291. Then we will shift our focus to Justin Gaethje rejecting Conor McGregor‘s challenge for a fight for his UFC 291 win. Lastly, we will wrap up the news compilation with Jorge Masvidal, who did the honors of presenting the BMF belt to ‘The Highlight’.

UFC 291 in Salt Lake City, Utah – recap

The UFC’s latest pay-per-view saw a new champion, Justin Gaethje. However, there were other notable moments from the event as well. Former middleweight champion Alex Pereira made a triumphant debut at light heavyweight against Jan Blachowicz. He defeated the Polish fighter via a split decision.

Here are the results of all the fights from UFC 291

Main card:

• Kevin Holland defeated Michael Chiesa via submission (2:39 – Round 2)
• Bobby Green defeated Tony Ferguson via technical submission (4:54 – Round 3)
• Derrick Lewis defeated Marcos Rogerio de Lima via technical knockout (0:33 – Round 1)
• Alex Pereira defeated Jan Blachowicz via a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Justin Gaethje defeated Dustin Poirier via knockout (1:00 – Round 1)

Prelims:

• Jake Matthews defeated Darrius Flowers via submission (2:37 – Round 2)
• Roman Kopylov defeated Claudio Ribeiro via knockout (0:33 – Round 2)
• C.J. Vergara defeated Vinicius Salvador via a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gabriel Bonfim defeated Trevin Giles via submission (1:13 – Round 1)

Early Prelims:

• Miranda Maverick defeated Priscila Cachoeira via submission (2:11 – Round 3)
• Uros Medic defeated Matthew Semelsberger via submission (2:36 – Round 3)

Justin Gaethje is not interested in fighting Conor McGregor

Following ‘The Highlight’s win over Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 291, Conor McGregor shared a post on Twitter. He hinted at snubbing his planned comeback fight against Michael Chandler to fight Justin Gaethje for the BMF strap. However, the newly crowned champion did not show much interest in the proposition.

Justin Gaethje mentioned that ‘The Notorious’ previously declined to fight him six times. Furthermore, he claimed to be interested in fighting only top contenders like Charles Oliveira.

READ MORE: Minutes After Dustin Poirier KO and Conor McGregor’s Message, Justin Gaethje’s Girlfriend Spotted in the UFC Arena Posing With the BMF Belt

However, he also laid some serious allegations against Conor McGregor, claiming that the Irishman is using steroids. As such, he has no interest in fighting athletes who cheat.

Jorge Masvidal crowns Justin Gaethje as the BMF champion

‘Gamebred’ appeared during the UFC 291 pre-fight press conference to mediate the face-off between Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. It was fitting to see the original BMF champion take charge of the stare-down, a role that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson took up in the lead-up to the first-ever BMF title bout. However, Jorge Masvidal‘s duties didn’t end that night.

After the announcement of Justin Gaethje’s win over Dustin Poirier, Jorge Masvidal appeared inside the Octagon with the BMF title in hand. He put the title on ‘The Highlight’s shoulder as the lightweight became the second fighter to hold that belt.

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