Kamaru Usman’s offensive striking could be the difference when he faces Jorge Masvidal in their title fight rematch.
In July of last year, Kamaru Usman successfully defended his UFC welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal. The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ won the fight via unanimous decision with only one of the three judges scoring a single round for his opponent. For the other two, the fight was a five-round clean sweep for the defending champion. Still, despite the dominant win, Usman wanted to run the fight back.
The reason, as the champ explained it, for a rematch was that he didn’t want to provide Masvidal with an excuse for the loss. ‘Gamebred’ accepted the original fight on short notice, replacing Gilbert Burns—who tested positive for COVID-19 nine days before the fight card. Masvidal signed on to replace Burns and face Usman with just six days’ notice. The potential of that ‘excuse’ didn’t seem to sit well with the Onx Sports trained fighter, and so the two 170-pounders will meet for a second time when they headline Saturday’s UFC 261 pay-per-view card.
Usman is coming off a third-round TKO win over Burns in February. Masvidal has not fought since his loss to Usman.
UFC 261 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.
Below is a look at how Usman and Masvidal match up in key stats ahead of the event.