The last time the UFC went head-to-head with a major boxing match, it was for UFC 244. They booked out Madison Square Garden, stacked the card with famous names and, without any valid championships available, created whole cloth the BMF title.

Contested between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal, men who can fairly be described as mid-level talents and top-tier superstars, this gimmick championship caught the imagination of the combat sports world to such a degree that, for one night only, it became more important than the WBO light-heavyweight boxing championship that was being held by Sergey Kovalev and was won by the sport's most popular fighter, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Now, three years and one months later, the UFC found itself going head-to-head. First and foremost against Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford, a genuine super fight year in the making with all four major boxing welterweight belts on the line. Then, also concurrently, Bellator x RIZIN 2 in the Saitama Super Arena. Bellator is a distant second to the UFC domestically, but it's building a large following in Asia due to its connections to RIZIN, the biggest promotion in Japan.

And so, with all active champions either booked already or injured, the UFC dusted off the BMF title and brought it back for a huge rematch that's been five years in the making.

Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje took place at a UFC on FOX event on April 14, 2018 and was an instant action fight classic. The win propelled Poirier to the top of the division, the loss confirmed Gathje's status as the sport's most exciting fighter: win or lose, he always swings for the fences.

Since that night, the two men have had parallel careers of eight fights with six wins and two losses, both submissions losses to the same men: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira.

From the very beginning of this ninth fight for each, it was clear that, even if they still hadn't shown any interest in learning to grapple effectively, both men had grown a lot. Poirier has become one of the very best boxers in MMA and his ability to find the range quickly, either when engaging or backing off, was fully on show. Likewise, Gaethje no longer resembles a bull charging down a matador; he still puts his entire body into those looping punches but now he's willing to look for openings instead of trying to force them through an opponent's guard.

Having cut Gaethje open in the first round, it was expected Poirier's slickness would bob and weave through his rival's barrages in the second frame. In fact, it almost looked like it would reach a faster conclusion than their first fight as Gaethje came out way more aggressively.

And then the whole thing got turned on its head: Gaethje threw a right straight which Poirier moved to counter, only instead of being a headhunting blow, it was a feint, his first of the fight - maybe of his whole life - and behind it came a thunderous headkick.

Poirier saw it too late; his hand was up but with no parrying strength and, for the first time since losing to Michael Johnson in 2016, he was knocked out cold and Justin Gaethje was crowned the second ever ceremonial BMF champion.

The craziest part is this exact maneuver has only ever been done once before in UFC history: it was how Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 11 months ago for the welterweight championship in this same arena.

Post-fight, holding the silver BMF title on his shoulder, Gaethje was clear that his next move will be for the gold: "You know what I want to do next," he told Joe Rogan, "I want to fight for the world championship. […] I want to prove I'm the best in the world."

[Header: Justin Gaethje celebrates with a backflip off the top of the Octagon following his win over Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 291 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. on July 29, 2023. /Zuffa]