Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 251 goes down on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
The biggest card of the year has three title fights on top. The main event will see Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal. In the co-main, Alexander Volkanovski will look to take out Max Holloway for the second time. And Petr Yan will face of with the legend, Jose Aldo, for the vacant bantamweight title.
This post will cover the first title fight between Jose Aldo and Petr Yan. Henry Cejudo vacated the belt when he decided to retire at a very early age after taking out Dominick Cruz on a short notice fight. Featherweight legend Aldo was offered a title shot originally, but COVID put that to rest and he didn’t get his chance. Tonight though, he’ll face off with the Russian monster and attempt to earn a second UFC belt.
We’ll start on Fight Pass and ESPN+ at approximately 6pm ET with four fights. The card then moves to ESPN and stays on ESPN+ at 8pm ET for four more bouts, then onto the main PPV card at 10pm ET. The full lineup and schedule follows. Every title fight has it’s own post, because we’re cool like that. Join us at Bloody Elbow to chat up all these great fights!
Jose Aldo vs. Petr Yan
Round 1 - Aldo is a little flat-footed early. Yan misses with some big punches. Both land hard in an exchange! Low kick from Aldo drops Yan! He digs to the body after Yan gets up. Looking vintage over the first two minutes here. Yan goes high but is blocked. Aldo with a 1-2. Yan trying to establish the jab. Lead right hook from the King of Rio. Another hard low kick from Aldo. Check kick to the body. Yan wades in with a hard right hook. Aldo shoots, but ends up on his back. Yan with a couple of nice rights. Big shots! Aldo might be hurt! Aldo dumps him off. That will be interesting to score. I’ll go 10-9 Aldo.
Round 2 - Both come out like Thai fighters. Yan checks a leg kick. Nice body kick works for Aldo. Yan fires back with his own. Aldo with an inside leg kick. Jab from Yan. Both land in an exchange. Aldo claps the front leg again. Nice body shot from Yan. Aldo going back to the low kicks and the lead straight right. Yan with a nice 1-2 and tags Aldo with the right. Again. Aldo kicks the body. Lead right. Aldo evades a hard lead left. Yan checks an inside leg kick but eats a jab. Aldo digs to the liver. Yan changes stances. Aldo with the jab. Yan wades in with a nice shot. 10-9 Aldo.
Round 3 - Yan goes to the body. He’s way more aggressive so far in this round. Aldo goes to the body. Nice jab from Yan, but he eats a shot to the rib cage. Uppercut from Aldo. Body shots from Yan. Aldo pressures and lands two knees to the body. Battle of attrition here. Yan digs to the chest with a nice shot. Aldo with a step-in knee. Jab from Yan. Another. Yan rips a left but gets shoulder rolled by Aldo. Aldo goes to the body. Yan fires back. Yan comes forward but Aldo uses some great head work to evade. Yan checks an inside leg kick and stuffs him with a jab. Another uppercut from Aldo. Yan with a body kick. Lead right from Aldo. They clinch and Aldo hits a spinning elbow! 10-9 Aldo.
Round 4 - Yan with a combo. Body kick from Aldo. They clinch briefly. Body kick from Yan. Aldo lands to the abdomen, Yan fires back. Yan slips and lands a right. Nice combo from Yan. Aldo with an uppercut. Yan does the same. Yan looks for an inside sweep in the clinch but Aldo spins away. You’re not taking down Jose Aldo. Yan digs the body again. Jab and a miss with the follow-up from Yan. Weird jump kick to the body from Yan. Aldo seems a bit slower. Yan lands to the body again. Inside leg kick from Yan. Whoa they’re both trading large inside, but Yan got the best of it. He dumped Aldo to the ground. He jumps into full guard. Yan lands two big lefts as he backs out of guard. Jumps back in. 10-9 Yan.
Round 5 - They hug to open the round. Yan with a big straight left to start! He drops Aldo! He jumps in and drops some big shots, but Aldo retains guard. Wow. Huge elbow! Aldo is just holding on. He steps over on an arm and lands more big shot. Crucifix. Aldo gives up his back. Huge shots to the side of the head from Yan! Aldo turtles enough to stay alive before the ref stopped it, but he’s being destroyed here. Huge knees to the body from Yan. Aldo is a bloody mess. Yan wrecks the body. The ref is telling Aldo to fight back. THAT’S IT! PETR YAN STOPS THE KING OF RIO!
Petr Yan defeated Jose Aldo via TKO (strikes), 3:24 of round 5
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