UFC 261 came to an explosive conclusion as Kamaru Usman viciously KO’d Jorge Masvidal in the second round a massive right hook. The two UFC fighters had a heated build up to their second bout, with Masvidal claiming the first fight was a fluke win by Usman considering the short one week notice he took the fight. He promised the second bout would be different and, well, it was but not exactly in the way he intended.
Kamaru Usman is still undefeated in the UFC. The Welterweight is now sportin a 14 fight win streak in the UFC, 15 if we include his win vs Hayder Hassan on The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzillians in 2015. Is there anyone else left for Usman at this point?
The fight saw the nastiness from the very beginning, with Usman stepping into Masvidal’s side of the octagon during the introductions, which elevated tension to above boiling point. Lots of trash talk was present throughout the 1 round and a half, with Masvidal taunting Usman a number of times. All in all, this was a fight that could have went either way before the knock out, with Usman getting the all important takedown in round #1, but Masvidal doing just as much if not more damage from below. Masvidal also landed a dangerous knee, and appeared to stun Usman on at least 1 occasion, and maybe even twice, although it was unclear if Usman was playing mind games.
At the end of the day, Usman did what he said he was going to do, which is to surprise everyone with his stand up. The powerful wrestler showed Masvidal something he hadn’t seen before, namely his power in the stand-up game, which the defeated UFC fighter admitted in his post-fight interview.
Usman will continue his reign of complete domination at the top, and will fight Colby Covington next, who called Masvidal a “journeyman bum”. Meanwhile Masvidal is sure to slide down the rankings after this vicious KO defeat. Will the 36-year-old have the fire to climb his way back the ladder? We’ll have to tune in to find out. UFC 261 was a solid event all around, although many will be scarred by the Chris Weidman leg brea injury, myself included. Still, it was exciting to see fans back in Jacksonville, Florida, and this made the entire card all the more exciting, with the “oles” ringing for a majority of the main event.
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