The heel did seem to slide low though, with Matthews himself more than happy to accept the referee’s call after the fight.

It mattered little in the end though, with Flowers given enough time to recover and Matthews going on with the job as he defended a takedown and later secured the finish.

First, Matthews ended up on top in half guard after stuffing the takedown attempt from Flowers before locking in the kimura and then moving into mount.

The Australian followed that up by unleashing on Flowers with a brutal ground-and-pound, forcing his rival to give up his back as Matthews then went for the rear-naked choke.

Matthews had barely even hooked in before Flowers tapped, bringing an end to the bout.

A classy Matthews then immediately embraced Flowers even before celebrating his victory before later crediting his rival for taking on the fight at late notice.

“We knew he’d put the pressure from the first round. Our goal was to just weather that storm, wait for him to tire out and then finish him as we did,” the Australian opened.

‘But it’s not about me. Darius, it’s guys like Darius that we’re able to fight, put food on the tables for our kids. He stepped up and took the flight short-notice. So a massive thank you to Darius.”

Matthews was also asked about the contentious low blow, telling Rogan “it did hit the belt of his shorts” and taking it on himself to be more consistent with his kicks.

“If the referee says it was too low, then it was too low. It did hit the belt of his shorts, so that’s on me,” Matthews said.

“I could feel his power and energy wearing out,” the Australian added of his finish.

‘I knew it was just a matter of time until he gave up the sub. I didn’t want to force the submission, I didn’t want to rush, I wanted to wait until he gave it to me, and then I’d know it was over.”

Cormier described it as a “phenomenal performance” by Matthews, who is now looking to partner up with Khabib Nurmagomedov as he looks to continue his rise in the division.

‘HIGHLIGHT-REEL’ KOS… AND A STRANGE CALL-OUT

Elsewhere, Roman Kopylov made a statement when he sent Claudio Ribeiro crashing to the canvas with a thunderous head kick.

The fight suddenly exploded midway through the first round when Kopylov rocked Ribeiro with a clean left hand.

Kopylov immediately lifted the pressure but Ribeiro later replied with a big right hand of his own that his rival backing up, immediately shooting for the takedown as he looked to take advantage of his best moment of the round.

Ribeiro was unable to get anything going before the bell though and unfortunately for him it would be his only real moment of the fight, with a brutal head kick from Kopylov bringing the fight to a sudden end early in the second round.

Kopylov called out Sean Strickland in the aftermath of his victory, although Rogan was quick to shut down the chances of that happening.

“If the promotion would allow me to, I’d like to thank the gangster of our weight class Sean Strickland,” Kopylov said through a translator.

“That would be a fantastic fight but Sean is very high up in the rankings and up for a title shot. Either way, whoever you fight next they have to be very wary,” replied Rogan.

Kopylov then had what can only be described as an interesting suggestion in response.

“It’s time to toss out the rankings. Maybe I should switch rankings with Sean,” he said.

The win extended Kopylov’s winning streak in the UFC to three fights, with knockout finishes in all of those bouts. Kopylov started his UFC career 0-2.

The fast finishes kept coming as Gabriel Bonfim made a statement by submitting Trevin Giles with a guillotine after just over a minute in the first round.

The win took Bonfim’s professional MMA record to 14-0 and continued a run of electric finishes for the 25-year-old, who now has 12 wins by submission in his career.

Sunday’s win followed a last-start submission of Mounir Lazzez, again by guillotine and this time in just 49 seconds at UFC 283.

“I’m feeling great and I expected it because I’ve been working every day to be champion of the division and either way I will be champion of the division,” Bonfim said post-fight through a translator.

“I’ve been working a lot to get better. Every fight there’s a new Gabriel.”

Bonfim later called out Neil Magny, adding: “I’m ready for you or anyone in this division”.

HOLLAND, GREEN KICK OFF MAIN CARD IN STYLE

Later, Kevin Holland kicked off the main card in style with a dominant submission win over Michael Chiesa.

The win was Holland’s second-straight while Chiesa has now dropped three fights in a row.

Holland was aggressive from the opening bell while also flashing his much-improved defence to stay on his feet and stuff an early attempt at takedown from Chiesa.

The American had no problems taking Chiesa to the ground though, appearing to hurt his rival with a big knee before locking up a d’arce choke on the ground.

Holland got the subsequent tap after just over two minutes in the first round, revealing after the fight that he is looking to now move back up to the middleweight division.

Holland was not the only fighter to score a submission win to open the main card, with Bobby Green also stopping Tony Ferguson in the third round of their fight.

This was a technical submission though, with Green getting on top after an Imanari roll from Ferguson backfired.

Green then got the arm-triangle choke in as Ferguson desperately tried to hold on, with 10 seconds left in the round and the end in sight.

The choke was so deep though that as hard as Ferguson tried — and in this case kicked — he couldn’t escape and later appeared to temporarily pass out as the referee called a finish.

POIRIER, GAETHJE MEET IN HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED REMATCH

Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje will meet again for the first time since the pair traded it out in the 2018 Fight of the Year, headlining what is an intriguing and stacked UFC 291 card.

This time the pair will be going at it for the BMF title — crowning the ‘Baddest Mother F***er’ in the promotion, although there could be much more on the line in reality.

Both Poirier and Gaethje believe that the main event unofficially doubles as a world title eliminator, with the winner to get the next shot at the lightweight crown.

Current champion Islam Makhachev and challenger Charles Oliveira are set to face off at UFC 294 in October, although Australian Alexander Volkanovski is also in the mix for contention.

Volkanovski, who is the UFC’s featherweight king, went down in his first shot at double-champ status against Makhachev but is keen to have another crack.

The plan is to get his Makhachev rematch in early 2024, with either Sydney or UFC 300 the proposed cards. Gaethje and Poirier though seem to believe they deserve the next shot.

“The winner this weekend fights the lightweight champion,” Gaethje told foxsports.com.au earlier this week.

“That’s the way it works. Yes, it’s super impressive what Alex is doing at featherweight. Just as it was super impressive what he did against Makhachev.

“And while I haven’t really put any thought into (where he sits in the lightweight title hunt), I wanted him to earn it the first time he got a shot … so I’d want him to earn it this time too.”

“I haven’t been told directly that the winner is fighting for the belt, but I assume that,” Poirier added earlier in the week at media day.

“I don’t want to look forward that far, because Saturday needs to happen. It’s a crazy thing we do. But the plan is to get my hand raised and then when the smoke clears, we’ll assess the next fight and where the division is at and what happens in Abu Dhabi.”

Volkanovski though believes he is better placed for the next fight for the title, that is of course provided Makhachev successfully defends his belt.

“They’ve both had chances at the title,” Volkanovski told foxsports.com.au.

“So while they’re right up there, I think I make sense because I’m the only guy who can test Islam and beat him. I don’t see him losing to anyone else to be honest.”

That discussion is for another day though. For now, all eyes will be on the highly-anticipated Gaethje and Poirier rematch.

Poirier will be looking to make it two wins from as many attempts against Gaethje, having scored a fourth-round stoppage.

For Gaethje, it is about more than revenge.

“I think this fight gives you that feel without anything on the line,” Gaethje said at media day earlier this week.

“For the legacy, it’s huge. First it’s championship belts, second is legacy. Third might be money, but those first two things are very important. We’re all trying to create a legacy that will live well past our time. That’s been my goal since Day 1.”

Gaethje is a very different fighter to the one that faced Poirier five years ago. Now a more refined and calculated version of his former self, the 34-year-old still can throw with reckless abandon when he needs to.

And Poirier himself said earlier in the week that it could take just one “crazy” shot from Gaethje to change the fight.

“I think his best chances are to catch me being crazy and landing a shot,” Poirier said.

“If he tries to take his time and be methodical, I’m going to show you levels. For sure.

“He’s kind of got that aura about him now as the chaos and the most violent and all that but I really am that, and he knows that. So, let’s go there.”

PEREIRA’S STUNNING TRANSFORMATION

Elsewhere, in the co-main event Alex Pereira is making his debut in the light heavyweight division as he takes on No. 3 ranked contender Jan Blachowicz in an intriguing battle.

Pereira, the former UFC middleweight champion, holds wins over Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Bruno Silva but is coming off a last-start defeat to the Kiwi champion.

Now the knockout specialist, who rapidly rose up the ranks in the middleweight division, will look to fast-track his path towards contention at 205 pounds with a win over Blachowicz.

Pereira has already turned heads before entering the octagon, gaining 22.5 pounds in the space of 24 hours since weighing in for the co-main event.

Speaking on his YouTube channel in the lead-up to the fight, Adesanya predicted Pereira would win by knockout.

“I think Alex hits harder,” Adesanya said.

“It’s the way he throws, the technique he throws with, the technique – he grounds himself. He’s not running. He’s not moving and throwing. He sits when he gets you where he wants you, especially against the fence. He’ll sit there and throw.

“That’s how he’s able to hit harder. Jan can definitely learn how to hit harder, but hey, if Jan gets him down, I think he’s just going to control him there for three rounds.”

FULL FIGHT CARD + RESULTS

Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje, lightweights

Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pereira, light heavyweights

Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Derrick Lewis, heavyweights

Bobby Green def. Tony Ferguson via technical submission (arm-triangle choke), lightweights

Kevin Holland def. Michael Chiesa via first-round submission, welterweights

Gabriel Bonfim def. Trevin Giles via submission (guillotine), welterweights

CJ Vergara def. Vinicius Salvador via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), flyweights

Roman Kopylov def. Claudio Ribeiro via KO (head-kick), middleweights

Jake Matthews def. Darrius Flowers via submission (rear-naked choke), welterweights

Uros Medic def. Matthew Semelsberger via TKO (ground-and-pound), welterweights

Miranda Maverick def. Priscila Cachoeira via submission (armbar), women’s flyweights

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