UFC 291 is in the books and it was an eventful pay-per-view event to say the least. The headliner saw a rare Justin Gaethje head kick that knocked Dustin Poirier out cold in their BMF title fight. The co-main event, meanwhile, saw Alex Pereira emerge victorious in his light heavyweight debut against former champion Jan Blachowicz. Derrick Lewis returned to the win column, Tony Ferguson lost (once) again, and Kevin Holland earned arguably his biggest win at welterweight. So with all that said, here are five things we learned from the events of UFC 291 last night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1. Justin Gaethje has earned the next lightweight title shot

Gaethje shocked the world not just with his win over Poirier, but how he did it — a rare head kick knockout in the second round that put his opponent out right from the moment of contact. As a result, he became the BMF champion and essentially earned the next lightweight title shot. Of course, Alexander Volkanovski will also be waiting in the wings, but given the nature of Gaethje's win over Poirier and his all-round body of work in the division, he deserves the next shot after UFC 294 in what would be his third and final shot at the 155-pound strap.

2. Alex Pereira sets up mouthwatering title fight with Jiri Prochazka

It wasn't the most exciting fight, but Pereira was able to emerge victorious in his light heavyweight debut against Blachowicz. As many expected, Blachowicz went for the takedown right from the get-go and after some resistance, was able to land it and nearly lock in a choke. However, Pereira survived and managed to deliver enough in damage in the final two rounds to get the split decision victory.

It was a much-needed win for the relatively inexperienced Pereira who has now set up a mouthwatering vacant light heavyweight title fight with former champion Jiri Prochazka. If we know anything about Prochazka and his reckless style of fighting, he'll only choose to strike with Pereira. That alone makes their potential title encounter a can't-miss fight.

3. Derrick Lewis isn't finished just yet

Lewis got back to winning ways with a first-round knockout win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima. The American shocked just about everyone by using a jumping switch knee a few seconds in that dropped the Brazilian. De Lima was not able to recover as the resulting ground and pound from Lewis resulted in a much-needed victory for the “Black Beast” who snapped a three-fight losing streak.

Lewis also made headlines for looking as slim as ever during the weigh-ins in which he even sported some abs. Given his nuclear knockout power even at 38, if Lewis is able to stay committed and focused, he'll still enjoy plenty of success in the heavyweight division for the foreseeable future.

4. Tony Ferguson shouldn't be allowed to compete anymore

It was said by many that Ferguson should retire regardless of the result at UFC 291, and that belief in that is stronger than ever now. While “El Cucuy” had a promising first few minutes in which he dropped an out-of-position Bobby Green, an accidental eye poke ended all his momentum. The remainder of the fight was more or less what we've seen in previous fights — a Ferguson without the movement, swagger and most importantly, confidence that we've come to know.

Ferguson didn't even look threatening on the ground and at one point in the third round, he was simply happy to avoid strikes without throwing any back as a counter as he was eventually bloodied up. It would have been a unanimous decision defeat for Ferguson only for himself to end up getting choked unconscious by Green with just over 10 seconds remaining in the third round. It's now six defeats in a row and at this point, it's just irresponsible for Ferguson to keep fighting as well as for the UFC to allow him to compete. He'll only destroy his legacy further.

5. Kevin Holland is ready for the big dogs at welterweight

Holland earned arguably the biggest win of his career with a first-round submission victory in his welterweight encounter against Michael Chiesa. He's now 4-1 at welterweight and as noted by UFC commentator Jon Anik, is set to enter the top 15 of the rankings where he can now really start to make a climb into title contention.

Ironically enough, “Big Mouth” mentioned post-fight that he was interested in returning to the middleweight division next. However, he'd be well-advised to keep his momentum going as he'll have much more success at 170 pounds compared to the wrestle-heavy 185-pound division. Whatever his next move, Holland has shown clear progression and is more than ready to fight some of the bigger dogs in the welterweight division.