Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
This is Usman vs Masvidal in a few short tweets.
UFC 251 is in the books, and it saw two champions keep their belts, and a newly crowned bantamweight king. In an event that had three title fights, Kamaru Usman completely shut out Jorge Masvidal in the main event, Alexander Volkanovski had a close split decision win over Max Holloway, and Petr Yan stopped a Jose Aldo that looked to be in vintage form early on.
Here’s a quick twitter thread with a brief recap and analysis of the event, that’s fitting for people’s social media era attention spans:
RIBAS SUBS VANZANT
PROS: Ribas looked to be levels ahead on the ground, and got another quality win over a popular fighter.
CONS: VanZant has been underpaid for a while, and now she ends her UFC contract with a lot less leverage.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 12, 2020
THUG ROSE BEATS ANDRADE
PROS: Great fight. Like the first bout, Namajunas was clearly more technical but power difference was again evident and it made things very interesting at the end.
CONS: One judge sucked.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 12, 2020
YAN OVERWHELMS ALDO
PROS: Vintage leg kicking Aldo showed up, along with his trademark body shots too. It was close and fun to see, until Aldo slowed then Yan upped the pace and eventually destroyed him.
CONS: LATE stoppage. Referee wanted Aldo dead. https://t.co/qfqW2NFSXL
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 12, 2020
VOLKANOVSKI EDGES HOLLOWAY
PROS: VERY technical, back and forth fight. I would’ve loved a third fight but…
CONS: Not the worst decision, but like the first fight, I thought it was competitive but had a clear winner. https://t.co/ATjQxu9Yqb
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 12, 2020
USMAN SHUTS DOWN MASVIDAL
CONS: Some didn’t like the clinching, but I’m not going to complain about a perfectly executed game plan.
PROS: Usman smothered and dominated. Say what you want, but that’s yet another top fighter the champ shut down. Also: https://t.co/ST78s1nTMX
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 12, 2020
#UFC251 OVERALL
PROS: Fun, high level fights. Holloway & Aldo looked like their old selves.
CONS: Holloway & Aldo’s old selves weren’t enough. UFC keeps taking UAE money. Masvidal & PVZ lost all remaining leverage in negotiations. Bisping’s commentary. Fight Island gimmick.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 12, 2020
And that’s about it. For more social media musings, follow me on twitter over at @antontabuena, and of course you should do that for Bloody Elbow’s official twitter account as well.
Check out fighters’ twitter reactions along with more of our event coverage below:
- Pros react to Usman’s dull win over Masvidal at UFC 251
- Pros react to Volkanovski’s close win over Holloway at UFC 251
- Pros react to Yan’s grueling TKO win over Aldo at UFC 251
- UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal results and post-fight analysis
- UFC 251 results: Usman takes grinding decision over Masvidal