KAMARU “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title by defeating challenger Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal by unanimous decision in their headlining fight at “UFC 251” on the “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday (Manila time).
Found himself with a new opponent with less than a week before UFC 251, Mr. Usman stayed the course and stuck to his game plan on his way to the UD victory, 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.
Mr. Masvidal, a replacement challenger for Gilbert Burns who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, started the match strong, connecting on solid elbows, punches and kicks despite being taken to the ground in the early goings.
But the champion did not let his early struggles deter him from exerting his will on the challenger, who unfortunately made it worse for him as he could not sustain his great start.
Beginning the second round, Mr. Usman steadily punished Mr. Masvidal in the clinch with hits on the midsection, punches and shoulder bumps. Mr. Masvidal also suffered a cut off a clashing of heads.
In the next two rounds the challenger tried to make some headway anew but the champion was not to give in as he continued keeping Mr. Masvidal at bay.
Sensing that he has the upper hand, Mr. Usman kept the pressure on his opponent to begin the fifth round. He successfully took down Mr. Masvidal anew and inflicted more damage.
As the round wore on, Mr. Masvidal managed to get up on his feet and tried to salvage a victory, angling to get some solid hits, including a flying knee, but to no avail until the final horn sounded.
In the post-match interview, Mr. Usman said the opponent change did not matter to him much since they train for everybody, which paid off for him in his fight with Mr. Masvidal.
With the win, Mr. Usman improved to 17-1, including winning 12 straight in the UFC. It was also his second successful title defense of the welterweight belt, which he won in March last year.
Mr. Masvidal, meanwhile, slumped to his 14th defeat as opposed to 35 wins. Entering the fight he had three straight victories.
Volkanovski is still featherweight champ
Also winning at UFC 251 at the UFC Fight Island was featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who doubled up on former champ Max Holloway to retain his title.
Australian Volkanovski (22-1) outlasted American Holloway (21-6) to win by split decision, 47-48, 48-47 and 48-47.
Meanwhile, Russian Petr Yan became the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion by stopping Brazilian great Jose Aldo by technical knockout (punches) in the third round.
Also victorious on Sunday were women’s strawweight Rose Namajunas (split decision) and women’s flyweight Amanda Ribas (submission/arm bar in the first round). — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
