The Ultimate Fighting Championship travelled to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida tonight for UFC 261: “Usman vs Masvidal 2.” The event featured a UFC Welterweight Championship rematch between Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman and Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal.
In the co-feature, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Weili “Magnum” Zhang faced “Thug” Rose Namajunas. UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko took on former 115-pound champ Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.
UFC Welterweight Championship
Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman vs Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal
Round 1:
Masvidal attacked both sides of Usman’s left leg with kicks early on. Usman responded with a hard left-right combo and he faked a takedown. An overhand right scored for Usman and Masvidal answered back with a lead left hook. Usman picked him up and slammed him down, then went to work with punches from Masvidal’s full guard. Masvidal threw elbows from the bottom and he got to a knee against the base of the cage. Usman landed right hands to his face, but Masvidal managed to get back to his feet. A right hook landed for Usman and he missed with two looping punches. Masvidal landed a right hand and a knee late in the round. 10-9 Usman.
Round 2:
Early in the second round, Masvidal had success again with leg kicks, but Usman stepped in with a massive right hook and Masvidal flopped to the mat. He ate five more hammerfists on the ground before the fight could be stopped.
Winner: Kamaru Usman by KO (Punch) at 1:02 of round two. He improves to 19-1-0 and remains the UFC Welterweight Champion.
UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship
“Thug” Rose Namajunas vs Weili “Magnum” Zhang
Round 1:
After circling in the opening minute, Namajunas faked a leg kick and went high with a left head kick that sent Zhang crashing to the mat. She came to as Namajunas landed a few follow-up hammerfist strikes before the fight was stopped.
Winner: Rose Namajunas by KO (Head Kick) at 1:18 of round one. She improves to 10-4-0 and becomes the new UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion.
UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko vs Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade
Round 1:
Shevchenko caught an early leg kick and took Andrade down into side control. Andrade stood and Shevchenko threw knees to her thigh. Andrade broke free, but Shevchenko tagged her with a three-punch combo and she scored a trip takedown from the clinch. Andrade turned to her side and Shevchenko took the opportunity to secure a loose rear-naked choke. Andrade freed her head and stood up as Shevchenko held her against the fence. She got Andrade down into side control once again before the bell. 10-9 Shevchenko.
Round 2:
The second round began with a slam takedown for Shevchenko, who landed on top in Andrade’s half-guard. Andrade held on from the bottom and she battled back to her feet. Shevchenko prevented Andrade from lifting her up and she whipped Andrade to the mat after reversing the clinch. Shevchenko then moved to a top-side crucifix and she landed punches and elbows to Andrade’s face. The elbows opened up a cut on Andrade’s forehead and referee Dan Miragliotta intervened to rescue her from further punishment.
Winner: Valentina Shevchenko by TKO (Elbows) at 3:19 of round two. She improves to 22-3-0 and remains the UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion.
Uriah “Primetime” Hall vs “All-American” Chris Weidman
Round 1:
The fight ended as quickly as it began, as Weidman threw an early leg kick that snapped his own leg and ended the bout. Medical personnel immediately entered the cage to attend to Weidman, who was obviously in great pain.
Winner: Uriah Hall by TKO (Broken Leg) at 0:17 of round one. He improves to 17-9-0.
Anthony “Lionheart” Smith vs Jimmy “The Brute” Crute
Round 1:
Crute caught a front kick and landed a solid kick to the body early on. He followed with a leg kick and Smith began to establish his jab. Crute landed more leg kicks, but Smith continued to score with jabs and Crute’s right eye swelled up. Crute attacked with a punch-kick combo, but he was countered by a hard right hand from Smith. Soon after, Smith dropped Crute with wo leg kicks, but Crute managed to tackle Smith and drag him down. He landed punches to Smith’s face and kept him down despite having no feeling in his left ankle. He struggled to walk back to his stool with his foot dragging behind. 10-9 Crute.
While Crute indicated that he wanted to continue, the cageside doctor waved off the fight between rounds.
Winner: Anthony Smith by TKO (Doctor Stoppage – Leg Injury) at 5:00 of round one. He improves to 35-16-0.
(Undercard results and play-by-play on Page Two.)