Jan Blachowicz is slightly favored against Alex Pereira at UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 on Saturday, July 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Blachowicz is 29-9-1 in his career, while Pereira is 7-2 in his career. There are a total of 12 fights, with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ABC/ESPN/ ESPN+, and three on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2. Let’s look at the bout between Blachowicz and Pereira and UFC predictions.
UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 takes place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, July 29 with 12 fights, with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ABC/ESPN/ ESPN+, and three on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje II Betting
Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1, 12-6-1 UFC)
Blachowicz came into the UFC with a record of 17-3 and he has 12 wins, six losses, and one draw in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has four wins, one loss, and one draw. He defeated Corey Anderson by KO, Dominick Reyes by TKO, Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision, and Aleksandar Rakic by TKO; while losing to Glover Teixeira by rear-naked choke submission, and fighting to a draw against Magomed Ankalaev. Blachowicz has been a pro since 2007 and he has nine wins by TKO/KO and nine by submission. He has seven first round finishes.
Blachowicz said this to nypost.com about his upcoming fight against Pereira, “He was a world champion in kickboxing, so I have to be careful, but I want to try my stand-up against him in the cage. … I am curious how I’m going to feel [against] his stand-up, how I’m going to feel against him. But if I’m going to feel bad, if I take too many punches, OK, let’s go, let’s do wrestling. [Pereira] trains with Glover; Glover is [a] very good grappler, very good wrestler. He’s also going to be ready for that. I think it’s going to be [a] tough fight for both of us.”
Alex Pereira (7-2, 4-1 UFC)
Pereira came into the UFC with a record of 3-1 and he has four wins and one loss in the UFC. He defeated Andreas Michailidis by TKO, Bruno Silva by unanimous decision, Sean Strickland by KO, and Israel Adesanya by TKO; while losing to Israel Adesanya by KO. Pereira has been a pro since 2015 and he has six wins by TKO/KO and one by decision. He has three first round finishes.
Pereira said this to mmafighting.com about his upcoming fight against Blachowicz, “Did he knock out everyone he’s fought? I don’t think so, right? If he was a guy who has knocked out everybody, I would say, ‘Damn.’ But no, he’s a normal fighter. A former champion, experienced and dangerous, but many people say [about me], ‘He was knocked out, he won’t come back the same.’ I beat Adesanya twice in kickboxing and once in MMA, a scary knockout in kickboxing, oxygen mask and everything, and he came back and beat me. Only if you’re a guy with a weak mind and that gets inside your head, then yes, the guy touches you and you go down. But there’s no such thing, man. (I) had good recovery. Of course, you got hit and that will affect you for a moment. Maybe if you train the next day or week and get hit, you’ll be weaker, but I think the way I did it, the recovery I had, everything I did was perfect. I think if [Blachowicz] lands a hand and I go down, it’s because I was supposed to go down, not because I got weak from the punch Adesanya landed.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Blachowicz 3.41 / Pereira 5.23
Striking Accuracy: Blachowicz 49% / Pereira 59%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Blachowicz 2.81 / Pereira 3.76
Defense: Blachowicz 54% / Pereira 54%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Blachowicz 0.97 / Pereira 0.28
Takedown Accuracy: Blachowicz 53% / Pereira 100%
Takedowns defended: Blachowicz 68% / Pereira 73%
Submission average: Blachowicz 0.2/ Pereira 0.0
UFC Picks
The question for me in this fight revolved around Pereira. Just how good is he? He beat Adesanya by TKO and then lost to Adesanya by knockout. This fight against Blachowicz should give us a good idea. We know that Blachowicz is tough and that he has excellent power. I am not sure what strategy Pereira is going to try. I think Blachowicz will look to keep this fight standing and Pereira may just decide to take his chances. I lean toward Blachowicz in this fight and with the fight only being a 3-round fight, I lean toward it going over the total of 2.5 rounds.
| DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
| 7/29 | Justin Gaethje | +121 |
| Dustin Poirier | -152 |
| 7/29 | Alex Pereira | -105 |
| Jan Blachowicz | -125 |
| 7/29 | Tony Ferguson | +322 |
| Bobby Green | -450 |
| 7/29 | Michael Chiesa | +120 |
| Kevin Holland | -150 |
| 7/29 | Michel Pereira | +135 |
| Stephen Thompson | -170 |
| 7/29 | Marcos Rogerio de Lima | -210 |
| Derrick Lewis | +165 |
| 7/29 | Trevin Giles | +280 |
| Gabriel Bonfim | -380 |
| 7/29 | Claudio Ribeiro | +186 |
| Roman Kopylov | -240 |
| 7/29 | Vinicius Salvador | +127 |
| CJ Vergara | -160 |
| 7/29 | Uros Medic | +165 |
| Matthew Semelsberger | -210 |
| 7/29 | Priscila Cachoeira | +258 |
| Miranda Maverick | -345 |
| 7/29 | Darrius Flowers | +215 |
| Jake Matthews | -281 |
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