BEVERLY HILLS, April 25, (THEWILL) – After an intense buildup to an epic rematch at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman proved his mettle by retaining his title as the champion of the UFC welterweight division. In defending his title, Usman bettered the unanimous decision victory of his first fight with Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal by earning a second-round knockout victory.
Their rematch was the main event of UFC 261 from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, which Usman made sure to end with a massive right hand that proved too much for Masvidal.
The first round was a fairly square pairing but Usman showed hesitation to get Masvidal to the ground in the early going. With the heavier punches coming from Usman, Gamebred eventually worked his way back to contention as the round ended. However, the Nigerian Nightmare easily owned the round.
It was the next round that demonstrated Usman’s fighting instincts clearly. He went against his challenger with intent from the beginning. If the first round was any indication, it seemed the champion used it to map out his winning plan. He showed why he was the Nigerian Nightmare when he followed a left hand with a clean right hand that landed flush on Masvidal’s face and put him on the canvas.
Like a shark drawn to blood, Usman pounced and finished the fight as a challenge. The replays showed Masvidal was out even before he hit the ground but Usman made sure he took out Gamebred’s reserves to make certain of the knockout.
In his post-match comments, Masvidal was complimentary in giving the champ props for a masterful performance, a far cry from his antics ahead of the fight when he claimed it was going to be his day in the championship as Usman was one of the softest hitters he had fought.
THEWILL recalls that the Nigerian Nightmare had beaten Gamebred at UFC 251 in 2020, but the challenger was fighting him on less than a week’s notice as a replacement for Gilbert Burns, the original opponent, who was forced off the card due to testing positive for COVID-19 in the pre-match testing.
The excuse of Masvidal at the time was that the fight would have been much different if he had a whole camp to prepare for the fight and wanted a rematch to demonstrate his true credentials. It turned out to be even worse for him than the first as he did not make it beyond the second round plus the added indignity of a TKO.
Usman’s takeout of Gamebred is his fourth successful title defence and he has established himself as the top Welterweight fighter in the world. The 33-year-old came to the title by beating Tyron Woodley in March 2019. Since then, the Nigerian-born fighter has added two wins against Masvidal, a win over Colby Covington and a knockout win over Burns all while keeping the belt to himself.
As an ultimate professional, he recognises there is still much work to be done, especially in establishing the dominance he has begun in the division. The record for defences of the Welterweight category is held by Georges St-Pierre, who, as the most dominant fighter in the history of the weight class, racked up nine straight title defenses in his second reign as champion. But, Usman has a decidedly weighty issues on that score: a lack of true contenders in the division to challenge him for the title.
He made this obvious in his post-match remarks: “Yeah, these guys have to show me something to let know, to put the fear in me that ‘oh man, I’ve got to get up, I’ve got to wake up and get up and prepare for these guys.’
“Because right now, there’s not much that they can offer me. There’s just not much cause I’m just so far ahead of them right now that I’m lapping these guys.”
There remain only a few options, in terms of new matchups for the Champion. There is Leon Edwards, who is expected to fight Nate Diaz in May. It is the type of bout that could potentially produce another challenger for the Welterweight division title.
Another interesting alternative challenger could be the Russian-born Swedish professional mixed martial artist of Chechen ethnicity, Khamzat Chimaev, who has impressed in rising to prominence in the division as well.
However, Usman’s defences have made one fact brilliantly obvious. He is still the champion for a reason and whoever gets the next crack at him will come in as the underdog. And pray that they are on their feet at the end.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
