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 main event title fight between Usman and Masvidal. Gamebred took the fight on less than a week’s notice, but was apparently training for the fight the whole time anyway. Usman has gone into the fifth round in his last four fights, while Masvidal has only gone 25 minutes twice in his 48-fight career. Will that be the difference? We’re about to find out.
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!
Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal (WW Title)
Round 1 - Masvidal wades in but gets taken down super quick. Usman backs out of guard and almost eats an upkick. Usman spins and gets a front headlock but Masvidal pulls out. Nice body shot from Usman. Low kick from Gamebred. They trade in close. Body kick from the champ. Usman pushes his opponent against the cage and looks for a takedown again. Masvidal resists. Usman lands a nice right inside on the break. Straight left and side kick from the BMF belt holder. He has a small cut under his eye. They trade lefts. Masvidal with a quick right hook over the top. Usman bullies Masvidal against the cage and lands to the body. 10-9 Usman.
Round 2 - Usman scoops a single, but Masvidal stays upright. Usman dives in on a double against the cage, and Masvidal defends again. A minute in and Usman is still holding him on the cage, looking to wear Gamebred down. Nice elbow inside from Masvidal to create some space, but only for a few seconds. Masvidal again clubs Usman, and they clash heads. Grindy grind. They stall out. Masvidal finally creates some space and throws four kicks in ar ow. He lands a right hook, but Usman counters with a body shot. 10-9 Usman.
Round 3 - Leg kick from Masvidal. Usman goes to the body. Gamebred is laughing at him but that’s not stopping him from being pushed around. Usman goes to the body. Good body kick from Masvidal, but Usman goes for the takedown. Unsuccessfully. Marc Goddard gets between them for a borderline low blow and talks a little too much. Back to the action. Usman ducks a shot and hits a pretty double leg takedown. Masvidal is up quick, but Usman has a body lock and throws him back down. He’s in side with a minute to go. Masvidal explodes but Usman could see it coming and kept him on the floor, now in full guard. 10-9 Usman.
Round 4 - Usman backs Masvidal to the fence immediately. Knees to the thighs. It ain’t pretty, but it’s hella effective. Masvidal gets some space, but is immediately fighting off a double leg attempt. Usman dumps him to his butt, but no further. Masvidal is up but eating shots to the body. Masvidal lands a short right and an elbow and earns some space. Usman fakes a takedown. Masvidal with a body kick, but eats a jab. Masvidal trying to fire off but all of his shots are getting blocked. Nice left hook from Usman. More clinch work. Hard elbow over the top from Usman. 10-9 Usman.
Round 5 - Slow start, lots of feinting. Jab from Usman. Body work. Masvidal lands one shot and Usman steps back and shoots. And dumps him to the mat. He’s got Gamebred on his back and lands some elbows. He’s trying to strike from the bottom but he should be trying to escape. He looks for an omoplata from the bottom but he’s pressed against the cage. Usman slides over into side. He looks for an arm triangle as bait to get to mount but Masvidal pushes him off. Usman uses a front headlock again to control Masvidal. Knee to the body. Masvidal is up with 40 seconds to go. He lands a right. He looks for a jump knee but Usman smartly just backs away. 10-9 and 50-45 Usman.
Kamaru Usman defeated Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
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