UFC 251 viewers guide: Jorge Masvidal addition brings bizarre twist to Fight Island

Jun 30, 2020

Just when you think nothing in MMA will surprise you anymore, Jorge Masvidal goes and accepts the first UFC title fight of his career on six days’ notice.

And you know what? I’ll definitely fall for it again. Even though I’ll try to remember moving forward that I know nothing, and this sport will always out-bizarre itself from the week before — at some point I’ll drop my guard and think, “Well, surely now I’ve seen it all.” And MMA will have to humble me once again.

Seriously, when I think about some of the storylines I’ve covered in the past 10 years, they baffle me. Remember the time Conor McGregor threw a dolly at a bus while other fighters were aboard? That was at the same event where Tony Ferguson withdrew from a title bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov because he was injured tripping on a cable during a TV appearance, and Max Holloway stepped in on days’ notice, only to be ruled out in the middle of his weight cut. So Al Iaquinta fought Nurmagomedov for a championship on essentially zero days’ notice.

Or how about the time the UFC moved an entire event from Las Vegas to California because the Nevada commission wouldn’t license Jon Jones over an atypical drug test finding that popped up at the last minute near Christmas? Or the time Anderson Silva agreed to fight Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 on two days’ notice, two months after undergoing surgery to remove his gall bladder?

The common denominator in all of these is the UFC’s absolute “The Show Must Go On” mentality … and the willingness and courage of its fighters to jump at these opportunities. And maybe it’s because we’re in the middle of a global pandemic that has, for the most part, ruined sports so far in 2020, but that shared mentality feels like the greatest aspect of the sport right now, doesn’t it?

How great is it that Masvidal, who has fought 48 times in his career but never for a UFC championship, is willing to take this moment of a lifetime on six days’ notice? How great is it that Usman, who has sooooo much to lose in this scenario, didn’t blink over changing opponents? And how great is it that the UFC did what it took to make this happen, even when it had two other title fights still on the UFC 251 pay-per-view?

I’ll admit, when the UFC was so bullish earlier this year about continuing to promote fights during a pandemic, I wondered about the quality of the product. Would the UFC be able to book its best matchups with all the logistical hurdles that would exist? And would the performances of the athletes suffer under the extraordinary circumstances they face?

As it’s turned out, the sport hasn’t missed a beat. Arguably, there has never been a better example of why this sport is so fascinating and unpredictable than the past several months.

And I hope anyone watching realizes that all of these bizarre happenings are not because of MMA in a pandemic. This is just MMA, folks.

Welterweight championship:
Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Jorge Masvidal

By the numbers

11: Consecutive victories for Usman, tying him with Amanda Nunes for the second-longest active winning streak in the UFC, behind Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s 12 in a row. An Usman win would tie him with Georges St-Pierre for the longest streak in UFC welterweight history.

3: Consecutive wins by Masvidal. All came by knockout, including a UFC-record 5-second KO of Ben Askren last year.

42: Takedowns in the UFC for Usman, third most among active welterweights, behind Colby Covington‘s 58 and Neil Magny‘s 45. (Magny has had 22 UFC fights, exactly twice as many as Usman.)

2.43: Significant strikes landed by Usman for every one absorbed, the highest positive differential ever for a UFC 170-pounder.

1: Number of fighters who have been awarded a “BMF” belt inside the Octagon. Masvidal is one of a kind.

Sources: ESPN Stats & Information and UFC Stats

A look back

Five vs. five

Kamaru Usman’s most recent results
Win: Colby Covington (TKO5, Dec. 14, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Tyron Woodley (UD, March 2, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Rafael Dos Anjos (UD, Nov. 30, 2018)
Win: Demian Maia (UD, May 19, 2018)
Win: Emil Meek (UD, Jan. 14, 2018)

Jorge Masvidal’s most recent results
Win: Nate Diaz (TKO3, Nov. 2, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Ben Askren (KO1, July 6, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Win: Darren Till (KO2, March 16, 2019; watch on ESPN+)
Loss: Stephen Thompson (UD, Nov. 4, 2017)
Loss: Demian Maia (SD, May 13, 2017)

Dom’s film study

Dominick Cruz breaks down Jorge Masvidal’s advantages:

Dominick Cruz joins SportsCenter to discuss the advantages Jorge Masvidal has in preparing for his UFC 251 fight against Kamaru Usman.

And the winner is …

Masvidal has a real, real shot, in my opinion. This is not a guy who needs a long camp to go out and feel comfortable in a fistfight. Masvidal is the kind of guy I would give a shot to against anyone. The man just knows how to fight, and he’s supremely confident — especially now, after the 2019 he had. But at the end of the day, Usman is not a guy I would want to fight at anything less than 100 percent. The travel, the weight cut, the Abu Dhabi heat, Usman’s pressure and wrestling? Too much to predict the upset. Usman by decision.

Men’s featherweight championship:
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Max Holloway 2

Seven months after Volkanovski ended Holloway’s reign of 2½ years with a unanimous-decision victory, they’re going to do it again in Saturday’s co-main event. Will the Aussie’s leg kicks be the difference once again, or will the ex-champ have an answer that allows him to bring his old belt home to Hawaii? This rematch is a meeting of two fighters at the top of their games.