today 06:20
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Nigerian nightmare Kamaru Usman defended the title in the velterweight weight in the main match of UFC 261. He defeated Jorge Masvidal for the second time in 12 months.
After the fourth successful defense, Usman said that Masvidal had taken him to a higher level as a fighter. The champion gave a better performance compared to the first match and fulfilled the desire to triumph in a more dominant way.
He had good movement from the beginning and intervened in the American. Usman also won the 1st round thanks to his work on the ground, where he got his opponent after his unsuccessful attempt to jump to his knee.
After a minute of round 2, Masvidala hit a hard shot with his back hand and the opponent fell helplessly to the ground. There, Usman finished it with interventions to which he no longer responded.
The best in history?
“Jacksonville, did you want violence?” You have nothing to do, “Usman told the fans. He described himself as the best fighter on the planet, and the head of the organization, Dana White, went even further: “He’s one of the best in history and he’s on his way to becoming the very best.”
Usman is the second best fighter in the UFC after Jon Jones according to the pound for pound ranking, which unites all weight categories. After 20 matches, he has only one loss on his account from his second duel in a professional career in May 2013.
The Nigerian currently has no competition in the division. He should defend further against Colby Covington, to whom in November 2019 during the first defense he was awarded a technical KO only 50 seconds before the end of the 5th round.
The author of the fastest knockout in the history of the organization and 36-year-old Masvidal failed in the jubilee 50th career match. He has 35 wins and 15 losses.
The tournament was watched by 15,000 fans at the sold out VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. After a period without or with a limited number of viewers due to coronavirus measures, the UFC reported sold out for the first time since March 7 last year.
Zhang Weili fell after 21 triumphs
Chinese woman Zhang Weili sensationally fell for the first time since her debut in November 2013, respectively after 21 victories in a row! She lost the title in her second defense in straw weight in the sixth match in the UFC.
The new American champion Rose Namajunas was fast at the top from the beginning, she was able to react to the opponent. After more than a minute, she timed a high kick, which she “out” Weili for a moment. She finished the match with blows on the ground.
The Chinese woman vehemently protested and, although she was crawling around the cage, she described the arbitrator’s intervention as premature. According to the P4P ranking, Weili is the third best woman in the UFC and it is probable that she will get a chance to get the title back from Namajunas in the next fight.
The fighter with Lithuanian blood was already the division’s champion when she took the title of Polish Joanne Jedrzejczyk in November. Namajunas confirmed her victory in retaliation, but in May 2019 she lost to Jéssice Andrade.
Dominance Shevchenkov
Kyrgyz champion Valentina Shevchenko she defended the title in flyweight five times. After Amanda Nunes, the most dominant fighter performed an experienced and dominant performance against Jéssice Andrade. She had the upper hand in position and on the ground.
In the middle of the 2nd round, it created a dominant position on the ground. She covered the Brazilian woman with hard elbows from the so-called crucifix. The referee ended the match at 3:19.
