UFC 291: 'Phenomenal' Justin Gaethje wows Nick Peet with tactical evolution in Dustin Poirier win

Nick Peet said he was “blown away” by Justin Gaethje's "phenomenal" performance in beating Dustin Poirier and praised his evolution and ring smarts.

Gaethje delivered a second-round knockout at UFC 291 to claim the ‘BMF’ title and potentially put him in line for a shot at Islam Makhachev’s lightweight belt.

It was a stunning display from Gaethje, five years after suffering a fourth-round defeat to Poirier.

“I was blown away by the performance of Terence Crawford in the boxing ring, and I was blown away again by the level of Justin Gaethje,” said TNT Sports expert Peet on Fight Week.

“When you think about their last fight five years ago, he was this push forward, marauder, volume fighter, with reckless abandon. These days he is more back foot, more patient, more calm, a lot more technical.

“And I think Dustin is still one of the best in the world but I thought Justin was phenomenal.

“He is just getting better with every fight. He is setting stuff up now and he was patient and precise against Dustin Poirier.

“I think he surprised us a bit. Dustin had to lead the dance this time. Five years ago he was waiting for Gaethje to come onto him a bit more. This time around Gaethje was happy to take a backwards step and allow Dustin to come into the action and walk onto his stuff.

“That’s an evolving fighter who is super exciting about what he’s going to do next. He is the guy now.”

Michael Bisping also praised Gaethje’s development and approach to taking on Poirier.

“He is still super aggressive and going for the finish and trying to do maximum damage, but he also has safety in mind," he continued.

“Defence is very important. We all want to see those guys who take one to land one, but that’s not what fighting is about. It’s about hitting and not getting hit.

“The work with [coach] Trevor Wittman is really paying off, you can see the strides. Last time out against Rafael Fiziev he looked so good and this was a further example of that.”

A fight with Makhachev, who is set to defend his lightweight belt against Charles Oliveira in October, could be next for Gaethje.

Conor McGregor also called out Gaethje following his win over Poirier.

Bisping said a fight for the lightweight title should take priority over facing McGregor.

“Conor is still the biggest star in the sport, but Gaethje is interested in becoming the undisputed lightweight champion and winning the BMF title is the pathway to that.

“We also want money and Gaethje knows his time in the sport is coming to an end. But if he gets the belt then maybe he doesn’t get as much as a Conor fight, but he still gets pay-per-view money points and his legacy and the money.

“More importantly when he rests his gloves down on the canvas he can say ‘I did it, I went out and entertained, I fought my style and stayed true to myself and didn’t sell myself out, and I have the lightweight championship on top of my mantelpiece’.”

Peet added: “If he wraps that world title belt around his waist then the Conor fight isn’t going anywhere, so he can always cash it in then.”

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