Tag: UFC 261

This weekend sees one of the biggest UFC shows of 2021 go down, as UFC 261 takes place in Jacksonville, Florida.The main event of UFC 261 sees UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman defend in a rematch against Jorge Masvidal – so can Masvidal unseat the champ this time?

The honest truth is that it’s highly unlikely. The last time the two men faced off – at UFC 251 in July 2020 – Usman whitewashed Gamebred. So, with this in mind, here are three reasons why Kamaru Usman will easily beat Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261.

#1 Usman will have fully trained for Masvidal this time around

When Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal faced off at UFC 251 last July, the fight obviously took place on pretty late notice. That’s because Usman was initially pegged to defend his title against Gilbert Burns, only for Durinho to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. After some negotiations, Masvidal then accepted the fight on around a week’s notice and ended up losing to Usman convincingly.

In the months that have followed, Masvidal has claimed on multiple occasions that the result of the fight would’ve been different had he been given a full training camp to prepare for The Nigerian Nightmare. That’s all well and good, but it’s also easy to forget that Usman also didn’t have much time to prepare for Masvidal.

Of course, Usman did at least have a full training camp behind him. But in today’s UFC, top fighters like the Nigerian train specifically for a certain opponent. And it’s fair to say that training for Burns would’ve been very different than training for Masvidal.

To face Burns – a grappler – Usman likely would’ve prepped to keep the fight standing. But against a striker like Masvidal, it’s obvious that The Nigerian Nightmare would look to use a more wrestling-heavy gameplan.

And when you consider that Usman comfortably used his wrestling to beat Masvidal at UFC 251 – most likely without even training much wrestling in his camp – then surely it stands to reason that with full preparation, The Nigerian Nightmare will win again in similar fashion. Check out best aussie online casino for our complete analysis and predictions before UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal.

#2 Masvidal offered nothing at UFC 251 and hasn’t shown improvement since

The first Kamaru Usman/Jorge Masvidal fight wasn’t the most one-sided title fight in UFC history by a long shot. In fact, it was probably the least dominant performance from Usman that he’s put on since he won the UFC Welterweight title in 2019.

However, the fact is that Masvidal simply didn’t have much success in the fight at all. He landed the odd good strike, was able to stand back up after being taken down and attempted a couple of submissions. But overall, Usman comfortably defeated him.

It’s true that we’ve seen fighters in the past lose in a UFC title fight only to improve and defeat the champion in a rematch. Georges St. Pierre and Robbie Lawler both did this in the Welterweight division, in fact. However, after losing their fights for the UFC Welterweight title, both St. Pierre and Lawler went on lengthy winning streaks to earn their rematch with the champion.

And both men displayed clear improvements, largely in the areas that caused their downfall in their first attempts to win the title. Masvidal, however, has not shown any improvements since UFC 251. In fact, Gamebred hasn’t even fought since then.

Sure, he may well have worked non-stop on his takedown and clinch defense in the months that have followed UFC 251. But there’s no proof of any improvement and without fighting in the interim, it’s hard to imagine that he can be prepared for what Usman can bring. And so, with that considered, it’s hard to imagine Gamebred having any more success than he did the first time around.

#3 Usman’s striking is improving all the time

Naturally, most people would probably suggest that it would be an error for Kamaru Usman to attempt to stand and strike with Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. That’s because Masvidal has become well known as one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC. He’s always had excellent technical strikes – particularly with his boxing game – but he’s now the owner of some of the most devastating knockouts in UFC history, over the likes of Darren Till and Ben Askren.

However, if the fight does remain standing, Usman certainly wouldn’t be lost by any means. The Nigerian Nightmare has seen his striking game improve rapidly since his UFC career began in 2015. Usman picked up his first KO win in the UFC back in 2017 when he knocked out Sergio Moraes. But he’s gotten even better since then, and recently knocked out both Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns with some thunderous punches.

Granted, The Nigerian Nightmare also got dropped by Burns early in their fight. But Durinho hits hard and it was hugely impressive to see Usman recover quickly and come back to smash him in the later rounds. Is Masvidal capable of knocking Usman out? Of course. On jeux casino, the sportsbook reckons Masvidal carries a knockout power in his strikes and is capable of taking out any fighter if he lands the right shot and going by 3/1 for a Masvidal win, it’s worth putting a dime on.

But the same can definitely be said for Usman. And so, if Masvidal somehow does manage to prevent the takedowns of The Nigerian Nightmare, that’s certainly not a guarantee that he’ll win. Essentially, thanks to his improving striking game, Usman just has far more ways to win this fight than Masvidal. And so the only conclusion is that he’ll repeat UFC 251 – and win handily once again.

UFC president Dana White has announced the UFC 261 fight card and the return of fans to the arena after over a year in emphatic fashion. The stacked card is the second this year to feature three title fights on the same night.

While tickets for UFC 264 sold out in seconds, considering it’s a Conor McGregor card, UFC 261 is the biggest gate in UFC arena history and also sold all its tickets in minutes. There are ample reasons for the same.

That being said, below are five reasons why we feel the UFC 261 can be the promotions’ best pay-per-view of 2021:

5) Return of crowds to the arena

2020 saw the whole world shut down in an unprecedented manner, owing to the pandemic. Events and the sporting world were some of the worst affected, with all manner of sporting events canceled. Dana White outdid himself by managing to put on a fight card every weekend. We’ve been spoilt and have loved every minute of it.

While we do enjoy being able to hear every shot landed in a fight, it’s going to be an amazing experience to witness a packed arena after over a year. Fight fans are some of the most animated in the world, and the experience of watching a fight with fans in the crowd is unlike any other in the world.

4) Three title fights

When UFC 259 was announced, the MMA world could not stop drooling over the prospect of three title fights on the same card. It was the first time in UFC history that something like this was happening. Fast forward to today, and we’re suddenly being treated to another card with three title fights.

Dana White is spoiling us more and more each day, and we’re only too happy. The UFC 261 card features two title fights in the women’s division and a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal for the welterweight championship. You can see the predictions and picks here on australian online casino sites.

3) The card

The card itself is an absolute treat. Even if we focus solely on the main card, it promises fireworks from the very first fight.

The first bout on the card is a light-heavyweight matchup between Anthony Smith and Jimmy Crute. Smith is a former title contender and Crute is an exciting prospect in the division. Jimmy Crute has had only one loss in his career so far and Anthony Smith is working his way back to a title shot. You can be sure that both men are going to bring their A-game to the bout.

The next bout is a middleweight fight between Uriah Hall and Chris Weidman. Both these men have defeated middleweight legend Anderson Silva, but Chris Weidman is a former middleweight champion who beat prime Anderson Silva not once, but twice. Weidman may be past his prime but will be fighting a very tough opponent who is exactly as old as him at 36 years of age. We can’t wait to watch these two men battle it out.

Weidman is famous for having given Anderson Silva one of the most gruesome injuries in the history of MMA, by checking a leg kick from ‘The Spider’ with impeccable timing.

2) High stakes for the headlining fighters

Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman takes on Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 261. Many thinks Usman should have a rematch against Colby Covington, but the reason for this fight is that Masvidal fought Usman at UFC 251 on just 6 days’ notice. Kamaru Usman wants to give Masvidal a full training camp and then finish him, as opposed to outpointing him to a decision victory like last time.

While Jorge Masvidal is the underdog going into the fight, this bout is taking place in his home state of Florida. ‘Gamebred’ has been raised in Miami, and the stakes are high for him because he’s competing in his home state in front of a full-capacity crowd. Apart from the added pressure, he will have the advantage of competing at home but will need to make some necessary adjustments if he wants to win the belt this time.

Kamaru Usman also happens to live in Florida, but that’s hardly the reason his stakes are higher than ever for him in this fight. Usman’s father has spent the last 10 years incarcerated, and this will be the first time he steps into the arena to watch his son fight. To add to that, Kamaru Usman has surpassed GSP’s record for the longest active winning streak in the welterweight division after he beat Gilbert Burns at UFC 258.

Victory in the fight will take him one step closer to eclipsing GSP as the best welterweight in the history of the UFC. At this time of this writing, betting with leroijohnny shows Usman to win is currently priced at 2/9 odds.

1) Surpass UFC 259

The hype for UFC 259 was real, considering it was the first time we were treated to three title fights on the same card. However, some felt the event didn’t live up to the hype, considering Petr Yan lost his belt via DQ to Aljamain Sterling, Amanda Nunes dominated Megan Anderson, and Israel Adesanya had a bad day at the office against Jan Blachowicz.

Of course, fans who truly enjoy every aspect of martial arts loved the card, but UFC 261 could very well surpass UFC 259 for fans across the board.

In UFC 261, Valentina Shevchenko will face her toughest challenge yet in former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade. While Shevchenko has dominated the flyweight division for a long time, Andrade could be the first challenger to truly give her a hard time. We could witness the first instance of the flyweight belt being taken away from ‘Bullet’ Valentina.

Current strawweight champion Zhang Weili faces former champion Rose Namajunas in the co-main event. Weili is physically stronger than Namajunas, but ‘Thug’ Rose has been on the path to redemption. While Namajunas has rubbed some fans the wrong way and could be a little emotional heading into the fight on account of her comments against Weili and communism, you can be sure she will bring her very best to the octagon.

Zhang Weili defended her title last year against former champion Joanna J?drzejczyk in what is arguably the best women’s fight we’ve ever witnessed in the UFC. We’re expecting to see some fireworks at UFC 261, to say the least.