UFC 251 results: Kamaru Usman dominates Jorge Masvidal with strong wrestling to retain title

[nuraknu]

Jorge Masvidal stepped up on six days' notice to face off with UFC welterweight champion on Kamaru Usman, so there's a reason he's the BMF champion. But Usman showed his championship skills over five rounds, neutralizing the always-dangerous Masvidal on his way to a wide unanimous decision victory in the main event of UFC 251 from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Masvidal came out strong in the opening round, throwing flurries of fast strikes and popping up from an early Usman takedown. But Usman took over the fight from the second round on, using a grueling clinch game to neutralize the striking threat of Masvidal. Without the benefit of a full camp, it was clear the pace and style of the fight had wore Masvidal down and he had less and less offense to offer as the minutes ticked by.

As Usman took control, he held Masvidal firm against the cage, using old school foot stomps and shoulder strikes in between digging to the body and thighs of Masvidal with punches. A pair of headbutts in the early rounds opened up small cuts on the face of the challenger, but it was that grueling, grinding style of Usman that was the true deciding factor....

Kamaru Usman (c) def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Alex Volkanovski (c) def. Max Holloway via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Petr Yan (c) def. Jose Aldo via fifth-round TKO (punches)
Rose Namajunas def. Jéssica Andrade via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant via first-round submission (armbar)
Jiří Procházka def. Volkan Oezdemir via second-round knockout (punch)
Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Makwan Amirkhani def. Dan Henry via first-round submission (anaconda choke)
Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Davey Grant def. Martin Day via third-round knockout (punch)

Continue reading:

UFC 251 results, highlights: Kamaru Usman dominates Jorge Masvidal with strong wrestling to retain title

Usman suffocated Masvidal with against the fence and on the ground with his gameplan to get the decision win

www.cbssports.com

UFC 251, The Morning After: 6 Day’s Notice Ain’t Enough

Here’s what you may have missed from last night!

www.mmamania.com

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

Dominated is a stretch, he barely did enough to win, against 6 days notice Masvidal no less. I am a fan of the grappling arts and a lot of my favourite fighters are grapplers but Usman is a staller, he proved it again last night, he uses his wrestling to avoid the fight. Was sad to see this guy get the praise he has, he's no GSP and comparisons are laughable at this point.

 

[nuraknu]

Dominated is a stretch, he barely did enough to win, against 6 days notice Masvidal no less. I am a fan of the grappling arts and a lot of my favourite fighters are grapplers but Usman is a staller, he proved it again last night, he uses his wrestling to avoid the fight. Was sad to see this guy get the praise he has, he's no GSP and comparisons are laughable at this point.

I didn't get to see it. The last few cards I just wrote the result thing myself, but this one I got called away for mom stuff during the prelims and then had other stuff to do this morning, so I just grabbed an article. If you see one you feel is better and point me to it, I'll add it to the first post.

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

I didn't get to see it. The last few cards I just wrote the result thing myself, but this one I got called away for mom stuff during the prelims and then had other stuff to do this morning, so I just grabbed an article. If you see one you feel is better and point me to it, I'll add it to the first post.

I didn't mean to come across like I was attacking you, sorry.

Thanks for posting the article.

I am still a bit salty the self proclaimed legend of WW had to stall most of the fight against a guy coming in woefully under prepared.

Don't mind me

 

[steroid to heaven]

really it all comes down to round 3 of max vs volk
watch just that round and score it, thats the winner
for now all i have are strike stats: 25 to 15 max

Stats | UFC

 

[nuraknu]

I didn't mean to come across like I was attacking you, sorry.

Thanks for posting the article.

I am still a bit salty the self proclaimed legend of WW had to stall most of the fight against a guy coming in woefully under prepared.

Don't mind me

I didn't take it that way at all, no worries.

 

[kneeblock]

Dominated is a stretch, he barely did enough to win, against 6 days notice Masvidal no less. I am a fan of the grappling arts and a lot of my favourite fighters are grapplers but Usman is a staller, he proved it again last night, he uses his wrestling to avoid the fight. Was sad to see this guy get the praise he has, he's no GSP and comparisons are laughable at this point.

Looked exactly like a GSP fight to me.

 

[Robbie Hart]

I didn't mean to come across like I was attacking you, sorry.

Thanks for posting the article.

I am still a bit salty the self proclaimed legend of WW had to stall most of the fight against a guy coming in woefully under prepared.

Don't mind me

Yep, he was scared....he’s just not championship caliber. His standup is not that good and he knew he would get pieced up and dealt with. Gsp would murder him in 2 rounds

 

[Robbie Hart]

Dominated is a stretch, he barely did enough to win, against 6 days notice Masvidal no less. I am a fan of the grappling arts and a lot of my favourite fighters are grapplers but Usman is a staller, he proved it again last night, he uses his wrestling to avoid the fight. Was sad to see this guy get the praise he has, he's no GSP and comparisons are laughable at this point.

Winner rating

 

[nuraknu]

sorry wrong thread

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

Looked exactly like a GSP fight to me.

In what way? Which fight?

GSP had excellent striking and distance management, far superior ground and pound, better takedowns and top control and actually advanved position in almost all of his wins that went the distance.

Usman had one good shot off a leg kick and the body lock to side control, didn't advance position on the ground really at all, couldn't control and couldn't get much ground and pound off, in fact he was swept several times and Jorge arguably outstuck him from bottom when he was taken down.

He couldn't dictate the pace in the striking exchanges and looked worried a few times when Masvidal caught him, he did what he had to do, sloppy shot driving to the cage and stalling out almost half the fight off the failed attempt, no effort to finish at any stage.

G.S.P played it safe from time to time but that ugly performance was Couture not GSP, shit comparison.

 

[member 1013]

Looked exactly like a GSP fight to me.

GSP landed takedowns at will against better wrestlers, he fought at a high pace, he actually knew how to strike and attempted submissions.

you racist

 

[MondoIDIOT]

LOL


It takes two to tango . Why couldn't masvidal and his BMF belt make it interesting?

He is SO entertaining right ?


LOL


Usman may not have a (casual) fan friendly style

BUT

He did save us from a WW champ that will sit on his belt for a pay increase and then a year from now fight either Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz for the most non legitimate title holder .

LOL keep paying for the circus boys .





Keep





On







Paying

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

Anybody comparing that performance last night to any GSP fight at the equavilent stage of his career is full of shit.

Gsp didn't lose a round for 5 years during only a part of his run with the belt.

Usman is not on that level, not based on what he has shown so far at any rate.

 

[MondoIDIOT]

Anybody comparing that performance last night to any GSP fight at the equavilent stage of his career is full of shit.

Gsp didn't lose a round for 5 years during only a part of his run with the belt.

Usman is not on that level, not based on what he has shown so far at any rate.

GSP could roll out of bed today and 50-45 Masvidal . And then go on to beat Usman .



GSP is goat

 

[kneeblock]

In what way? Which fight?

GSP had excellent striking and distance management, far superior ground and pound, better takedowns and top control and actually advanved position in almost all of his wins that went the distance.

Usman had one good shot off a leg kick and the body lock to side control, didn't advance position on the ground really at all, couldn't control and couldn't get much ground and pound off, in fact he was swept several times and Jorge arguably outstuck him from bottom when he was taken down.

He couldn't dictate the pace in the striking exchanges and looked worried a few times when Masvidal caught him, he did what he had to do, sloppy shot driving to the cage and stalling out almost half the fight off the failed attempt, no effort to finish at any stage.

G.S.P played it safe from time to time but that ugly performance was Couture not GSP, shit comparison.

GSP was great because he won against great competition. Usman is the same. Stylistically, they're more or less the same. They have sharp striking and good wrestling. Usman's takedown game is much more sophisticated and GSP's BJJ was clearly better which made his advancing position better. GSP had a better technical repertoire of kicks, but Usman is much quicker. Boxing wise they're fairly even. Most of the people Georges outboxed were terrible boxers with a couple exceptions. Most of Usman's opponents have a much more developed striking game and so does he, but he also eats a lot of shots. GSP did too when he faced decent strikers. So there are some differences between them obviously, but also a lot of similarities. Usman seems to get drawn into firefights in ways GSP didn't because he was more than willing to switch to wrestling when the going got tough and played smart.

But when we look at post-Serra GSP he was incredibly risk averse and fans cried about it all the time. They relentlessly criticized him as a staller who just laid and prayed or jabbed and grabbed and was afraid of exchanges in almost every fight. The point is those criticisms were dumb when they applied to GSP, dumb when they were applied to Woodley and dumb when they apply to Usman.

Your job is to use your technical acumen to defend your belt period. Most fans can't reasonably detect the rhythm or openings in a fight, even if they've fought before. Tempo, speed, injuries, etc all play a role that's hard to perceive. In this time of COVID-19 when fighters are taking maximum risk even getting in there, they get a pass no matter how boring they are. The usual standards of be entertaining no matter what simply don't apply, particularly when you don't have a normal camp or normal anything (including in this case the opponent you prepared for). Also the UFC will treat a loss the same as it always would, cutting your wages for the next contract or cutting you outright.

Usman definitely played it smart last night just like GSP did many times before. Personally I think the comparisons between them are premature and we shouldn't be so hot to displace GOATs with newcomers. Usman is very fun to watch from a technical point of view just like GSP was. Masvidal is dangerous even on 6 days just like Diaz was against McGregor and obviously was fighting like he had little to lose because he didn't.

 

[Sex Chicken]

Dominated is a stretch, he barely did enough to win, against 6 days notice Masvidal no less. I am a fan of the grappling arts and a lot of my favourite fighters are grapplers but Usman is a staller, he proved it again last night, he uses his wrestling to avoid the fight. Was sad to see this guy get the praise he has, he's no GSP and comparisons are laughable at this point.

Why are you attacking her?

 

[member 1013]

Why are you attacking her?

Hit him with a blast double

 

[Sex Chicken]

Hit him with a blast double

 

[member 1013]

View attachment 9853View attachment 9855
View attachment 9854

Looks like a GSP level change

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Looked exactly like a GSP fight to me.

If GSP didn't ever advance position, and looked like shit on the feet.

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

GSP could roll out of bed today and 50-45 Masvidal .

GSP was great because he won against great competition. Usman is the same. Stylistically, they're more or less the same. They have sharp striking and good wrestling. Usman's takedown game is much more sophisticated and GSP's BJJ was clearly better which made his advancing position better. GSP had a better technical repertoire of kicks, but Usman is much quicker. Boxing wise they're fairly even. Most of the people Georges outboxed were terrible boxers with a couple exceptions. Most of Usman's opponents have a much more developed striking game and so does he, but he also eats a lot of shots. GSP did too when he faced decent strikers. So there are some differences between them obviously, but also a lot of similarities. Usman seems to get drawn into firefights in ways GSP didn't because he was more than willing to switch to wrestling when the going got tough and played smart.

But when we look at post-Serra GSP he was incredibly risk averse and fans cried about it all the time. They relentlessly criticized him as a staller who just laid and prayed or jabbed and grabbed and was afraid of exchanges in almost every fight. The point is those criticisms were dumb when they applied to GSP, dumb when they were applied to Woodley and dumb when they apply to Usman.

Your job is to use your technical acumen to defend your belt period. Most fans can't reasonably detect the rhythm or openings in a fight, even if they've fought before. Tempo, speed, injuries, etc all play a role that's hard to perceive. In this time of COVID-19 when fighters are taking maximum risk even getting in there, they get a pass no matter how boring they are. The usual standards of be entertaining no matter what simply don't apply, particularly when you don't have a normal camp or normal anything (including in this case the opponent you prepared for). Also the UFC will treat a loss the same as it always would, cutting your wages for the next contract or cutting you outright.

Usman definitely played it smart last night just like GSP did many times before. Personally I think the comparisons between them are premature and we shouldn't be so hot to displace GOATs with newcomers. Usman is very fun to watch from a technical point of view just like GSP was. Masvidal is dangerous even on 6 days just like Diaz was against McGregor and obviously was fighting like he had little to lose because he didn't.

I agree with some of this, I can't reply properly though because I am not at home and my phone is struggling like fuck to form a sentance.

I stongly disagree that they are the same stylistically though, or that their striking is equal.

Usman has shown rudimentary striking in every octagon outing and has yet to outstrike a striker, unlike Georges who did multiple times over the course of his career, whether he was hit or not en route he stood with Condit for over half the fight and beat him there barring that one moment off the switch kick, same for Alves, same for Bisping.

Usman was boxed up by Covington for 2 rounds, when Pierre fought a similar opponent in Fitch he battered him standing, didn't lose a round and never really looked in trouble, he looks bad against other grapplers standing, GSP had the Hendrix fight but that was at the tail end of his career after multiple surgeries, along with the fact Henrdix was juiced up to his eyeballs.

Right now there is no comparison, Usman gets by on attributes as much as ability if not more so.
I don't blame him for playing it safe but as I said it was an ugly performance, more akin to Randy vs Vera than any GSP fight I can remember and I watched them all live.

As you say a win is a win and Masvidal is still dangerous but not all wins are created equally and despite what you say this will effect his stock going forward, nobody wants to see a guy avoid a fight for over half of the time

Long story short GSP is far more accomplished and far more skilled in my opinion and again Usman is not on that level yet or anywhere near it.

His list of opposition throughout his run is nowhere near the same level as GSPs either.

We pretty much agree but I am not givin Usman enough credit, I know but he hasn't earned it yet in my opinion, last night was a perfect opportunity but he didn't have enough faith in himself, or ability, to take it in both hands.

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

Why are you attacking her?

I can't help it man, I am a cunt I know, time to quit the forum I think

 

[Sex Chicken]

I can't help it man, I am a cunt I know, time to quit the forum I think

No she deserved it.

 

[BenAskrensStrikingcoach]

No she deserved it.

I knew that all along of course, I was just testing you, congratulations you passed with flying colours.