The UFC heads to Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend for UFC 291. The event will be held Saturday, July 29, at The Delta Center. The main card has five fights with lightweights Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje in the main event for the fictional “BMF” title. The card begins at 10 p.m. ET with ESPN+ PPV handling the broadcast.
The co-main event features a light heavyweight clash between former middleweight champion Alex Pereira, making his light heavyweight debut, against former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. The preliminary card is seven fights with the “late” preliminaries on ABC and ESPN at 8 p.m.
Pereira-Blachowicz is expected to be an eliminator bout with the winner receiving a shot at the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in their next fight, likely against former champion Jiri Prochazka. Blachowicz, a former light heavyweight champion, had a chance to regain the title against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282, but the fight ended in a disappointing draw.
UFC President Dana White was so disappointed in the fight, he decided against a rematch and allowed Jamahal Hiill and Glover Teixeira to fight for the title at UFC 283. Hill dominated Texieira for the title, but later tore his Achilles in training and was forced to vacate the title. Pereira lost the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 and decided to move up in weight. White did not want to give Pereira an immediate title match, choosing to have him face a top contender first, which led to this fight.
Blachowicz is a -120 betting favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook. Pereira is the underdog at +100.
The main card for the event is scheduled to get started at 10 p.m. ET and will be available for purchase through ESPN+ PPV. The co-main event is Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pereira, which will be the fourth fight on the card. Their bout is likely to get going around 11:30 p.m. ET, depending on the length of the undercard and previous bouts on the card.