One of the most highly-anticipated fights of the year will go down later tonight (Sat., Apr. 24, 2021) at UFC 261 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., as Kamaru Usman puts his UFC welterweight title on the line in a main event rematch against Jorge Masvidal.
This is a massive rematch seeing as the two welterweights collided at UFC 251 in July 2020. Usman ended up defeating Masvidal via unanimous decision in the “Fight Island” throwdown, but “Gamebred” only had six days to prepare for the short-notice title fight. This time around, Masvidal has had a full camp and will give Usman all he can handle tonight in Jacksonville.
For Usman, this is his opportunity to win his first rematch in UFC competition. The reigning welterweight king is already in the discussion for greatest 170-pound fighter of all time, but Usman can really separate himself from the pack if he can work his way through the division’s top contenders a second time.
It’s going to be one of the most talked about main events of the year, but when will Usman and Masvidal actually make their respective walks to the Octagon later tonight at UFC 261?
With four other fights taking place on the PPV main card starting at 10:00 p.m. ET, Usman vs. Masvidal 2 is likely to begin sometime around 12:00 a.m. ET (Sunday). The main card will also feature a women’s strawweight title fight between Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunes, as well as a women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade. If either one of those five-round bouts go the distance the main event rematch between “Nigerian Nightmare” and “Gamebred” could very well be delayed.
If things run late (or early) Mania will be sure to provide an updated start time for tonight’s Usman vs. Masvidal 2 main event. You won’t want to miss it!
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 261 fight card right HERE, starting with the early ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.