After days of anxiety for fight lovers, this Saturday, July 11, the big day finally arrived: UFC 251 took place in Abu Dhabi, and the winner was The Nigerian Nightmare Usman, who retained his welterweight title, leaving the door of the defeated to Jorge Masvidal, who many wanted raising his hands as the winner.
The match lacked action and at times got boring, but Usman showed the champion’s caste, almost from start to finish in the five rounds that followed millions of people around the world.
Usman won the match with a unanimous final decision of 50-45, 50-45, 49-46, following the letter from the judges.
Having fun yet? 👀#UFC251 getting intense through 2️⃣ pic.twitter.com/CXhGfd94T4
— UFC (@ufc) July 12, 2020
In the first round, both Masvidal and Usman started with a relaxed attitude, and although the title champion was strong with the progress of the chronometer, the Cuban-American kicked his opponent several times in the back, after receiving an elbow
Salieron con toda!!!#UFC251 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/kJpfXtCMw0
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) July 12, 2020
But it was there when the Nigerian’s masterful floor keys began, who kept his opponent against the cage, leaving him only the option of a good pair of applauded kicks and elbows.
Cierran con toda!#UFC251 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/BBCyF6fhaY
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) July 12, 2020
FIGHT ISLAND 🏝
HERE. WE. GO! #UFC251 pic.twitter.com/CdqU8526vr
— UFC (@ufc) July 12, 2020
The title challenger managed a good kick that surprised Usman, who chose to push him against the net and although there was a total absence of offensive blows, the fight seemed to go another way after Usman knocked Masvidal down and the fighter almost stopped. righ now. But Usman again subdued his rival with his defined hooks, also without showing much of what a good fighter he is.
The fourth round was the anticipated announcement of what was already an announced loss for Masvidal. The champion held him against the cage and there came not only knees but also stomps, to which the Cuban seemed unable to react, he chose to hold onto his rival avoiding an attack, but the seconds passed like that without much emotion. Despite this, Masvidal managed to break free and threw two dolpes but looking more tired.
Judging by what he had done up to that moment, Usman, knowing himself to be the winner, increases his pressure against Jorge Masvidal, who still does not react accurately.
Enter Gamebred. #UFC251 pic.twitter.com/6H8Fc4Mpja
— UFC (@ufc) July 12, 2020
The final round started with Masvidal exhausted and Usman calm. Little action and nothing seemed to happen in the octagon. Caution ruled them both, but Masdival ended up on the floor again, got down on his knees, stood up and in the midst of his despair seemed to react by throwing several blows, but it was too late, the fight ended, and with him the illusions of those who coined to see a possible fight between the Latino and the great Conor Mcgregor, of which even without having even won this battle, many already spoke.
Oficial, @USMAN84kg vence a Masvidal por decisión unánime #AndStill#UFC251 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/tcULzhcIga
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) July 12, 2020
During a press conference on Friday, UFC President Dana White was asked about a possible showdown between Conor “Notorious” McGregor and Masvidal, should he win.
White said that Masvidal vs. McGregor “could be” the biggest fight in promotion history if Masvidal won on Saturday night.
According to the promotion’s president, there has been a lot of publicity behind UFC 251 since Masvidal was mounted in combat less than a week ago. During a press conference on Friday, White said: “This is off the charts. This thing has a higher trend than a Conor McGregor fight. The only thing this fight is comparable to is Conor-Khabib.
White was then asked if he would schedule a fight between Notorious vs. Gamebred if Masvidal defeated Usman at UFC 251. White said: “I don’t know. I want it to happen tomorrow. I can’t wait for it to end tomorrow. For those of you who have been covering this sport for a long time, you know how difficult it is to run and manage this sport. ”
According to Yahoo Sports , the champion praised Masvidal, despite his defeat, and stated that it should also be borne in mind that the Cuban-American only accepted this fight a few days ago.
“Gamebred is the biggest, baddest guy out there right now. I had to take six years to prepare for him six days in advance. I know a lot was done taking the fight on short notice, but he was preparing. All these guys are preparing for a guy, and that’s me at the top of the mountain. ”
“I had to make a mental change. I trained for Gilbert and had a completely different plan. He had a lot of little things in the fight, but those are not excuses. “Gamebred is tough and he showed it out there. I nudged him a lot big down there, but he got up, kept fighting and didn’t quit, “concluded Usman, who on the list of defeated contenders now joined by Masdival has Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley, Leon Edwards and Rafael two Anjos.
These were the full fight cards:
Main Card
Welterweight Championship: Kamaru Usman (winner) vs. Jorge Masvidal Featherweight
Championship: Alexander Volkanovski (winner) vs. Max Holloway
Bantamweight Championship: Petr Yan (winner) vs. Jose Aldo Women’s Strawweight
: Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas (winner)
Women’s flyweight: Amanda Ribas (winner) vs. Paige VanZant
Preliminary Card
Light Heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jiri Prochazka
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Muslim Salikhov
Featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Dan Henry
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos vs. Roman Bogatov
Early Preliminary Card
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura vs. Alexander Romanov
Flyweight: Raulian Paiva vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
Women’s Bantamweight: Karol Rosa vs. Vanessa Melo
Bantamweight: Martin Day vs. Davey Gran