On April 24th, an arena full of fans will be in attendance at UFC 261 in Jacksonville with three title fights on the line, including the big one, Usman VS Masvidal 2.
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Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal headlined the event at Fight Island, Abu Dhabi at UFC 251 for the Welterweight title. After five rounds of end to end striking, Usman came out as the better fighter on a unanimous decision. Fans respect Masvidal for his fight against The Nigerian Nightmare after he took the fight on less than a week’s notice, as he replaced Gilbert Burns who had tested positive for COVID-19. On the 16th of March, UFC President Dana White announced that Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal will return to the octagon for a rematch at UFC 261 in front of a full house.
The 33-year-old Nigerian fighter won his seventeenth consecutive fight win and thirteenth in UFC after defeating Gilbert Burns at UFC 258. This meant that the Nightmare had broken the record for most win streaks in the Welterweight division. In his thirteen-fight win streak, Usman has managed to get three knockout victories, one by submission and the rest by unanimous decision.
Masvidal meanwhile is currently ranked #4 and is stepping into the octagon after nine months to face the same opponent. The 36-year-old holds an MMA record of thirty-five wins and fourteen losses. The American has only won one encounter by submission and five by TKOs. A highlight perhaps has to be his record-breaking five-second knockout to Ben Askren at UFC 239, where The Gamebred rushed towards his opponent with a running knee to finish things off rapidly.
This battle could go either way and with Masvidal having a full camp of training for this rematch, it could make a difference. Kamaru Usman is the clear favorite to win the same way he won in the first match, using his size, strength, and grappling technique to win the battle on judge’s scores, but Masvidal could stun him by landing one of his powerful strikes out of nowhere just like he did at UFC 239.
[Image Credit: UFC 261 Usman vs Masvidal 2 Live Fight]
Shashank Iyer