Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman (19-1) silenced all the doubters and retained his UFC welterweight crown as he put Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal (35-15) to sleep in the 2nd round of the UFC 261 main event on Saturday, April 24 (Sunday, April 25, Philippine time) at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
While the crowd rallied behind Masvidal, Usman shook off all the boos and went straight to business in the first round. Despite a couple of wild swings, the champion still managed to edge out his challenger with his patented jabs and dominant wrestling.
Just a minute into the 2nd round, Usman caught Masvidal playing around and landed a brutal right straight on Masvidal’s chin that opened the gates of dreamland for the Street Jesus.
“They said they wanted violence out here in Jacksonville, Florida and I went out there and gave it to them,” Usman said. “I’m coming around with a vengeance and I had to go out there and put the nails in that coffin and I did and we turn the page and move forward.”
With his victory, Usman extended his winning streak to 19, the 14th straight win under the UFC brand. Usman recently defended his title against Gilbert Burns in February.
The second matchup between Usman and Masvidal wrapped up the first UFC event with a full live audience in attendance since March 2020. The organization reported that over 15,000 people attended and witnessed the stacked card.
“The energy was incredible,” Usman said. “There’s nothing like a sold-out crowd like that. It’s incredible. I can’t describe it, I love the UFC fans, love ‘em or hate ‘em, it doesn’t matter.”
Back in July 2020, Usman picked up a decision victory against Masvidal, who took the fight on a 6-day notice.
“Thug” Rose Namajunas (11-4) pulled off the biggest upset and drew the loudest cheer of the night as she recaptured the women’s strawweight title by knocking out the Chinese superstar Zhang “Magnum” Weili (21-2) in the opening round of the co-main event.
The crowd went bananas when Namajunas connected a slick head kick, followed by a barrage of hammer fists that ended the championship reign of Weili, who looked unhappy with the referee’s stoppage.
Namajunas is the first woman in UFC history to regain the championship title. In 2017, Namajunas got the strawweight title when she defeated the Polish fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk but lost the gold against Jessica Andrade in 2019.
“I am the best,” Namajunas said emotionally after the fight. “I did it again.”
“It just feels really great. At the end of the day, it’s about doing my best, so no matter what the result was, I was proud of myself for stepping in there today and doing my thing,” Namajunas added.
Aside from ending Weili’s title reign, Namajunas also handed Weili’s first loss since 2013. Prior to this fight, Weili had a 21-fight win streak.
Meanwhile, Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko (21-3) continues her dominant title run and successfully defended her women’s flyweight title by knocking out Jessica Andrade (21-9) in the second round of the fight.
Shevchenko made it look easy and dominated Andrade in all aspects of the fight. The 33-year old champion used 1-2 combinations and powerful takedowns to edge out her challenger in the opening round.
More of the same happened in the second round as Shevchenko immediately brought back Andrade to the floor. Shevchenko, then, worked her way to a crucifix position where she unleashed brutal elbows that eventually led to a stoppage.
“I don’t have fear to go and fight, to go and wrestle, to go and grapple,” Shevchenko said. “Once I was in a crucifix position, I secured my position first, then I started to land hits, I started to land elbows.
“I saw the blood and I heard the referee, and then I knew, this is my moment, I need to finish it, I don’t want to fight five rounds,” she added.
Shevchenko now won her last 7 fights, while Andrade dropped 3 of her last 4.
All title bouts delivered impressive finishes, but the first two bouts of the main card had a couple of unfortunate scenarios. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman (15-6) was stretchered off the octagon after suffering from a horrible leg injury in the opening seconds of his fight against Uriah Hall (18-9).
It only took 17 seconds before the bout was called off as Weidman dropped to the ground in pain after throwing a leg kick. Despite the scary finish, Hall was hailed victorious and extended his win streak to 4.
“It’s unfortunate, I’m sure he had to prepare himself to get out, but it’s one of those where you just didn’t see it come, so you take it and move forward,” Hall said.
After the main event, the UFC broadcast announced that Weidman is stable and will undergo surgery tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Anthony “Lionheart” Smith (35-16) also picked up a TKO victory over Jimmy “The Brute” Crute (12-2) as the ringside doctor stopped the fight at the end of the first round due to Crute’s injury.
Smith utilized his jabs early, but it was a well-placed leg kick that compromised the left foot of Crute. Despite Crute’s eagerness to continue the fight, the doctor stepped in and called the bout over.
– Rappler.com
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