UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman popularly known as Nigerian nightmare has knocked out his opponent Jorge Masvidal in the second round.
Kamaru defended his title against Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 261 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday night.
It will be the first UFC event since March 2020 that a capacity crowd will be available in the United States.
The fight is the first UFC card in front of a 15,000 capacity crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down spectator sports in March 2020. It is also one of three title fights on a card that sold out within hours.
After beating Masvidal, Usman is now the second-longest winning streak in UFC history. Usman was tied with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones with 13 straight victories. Only Anderson Silva has more consecutive wins in UFC history (16).
Ahead of their fight, Masvidal had sent a warning to Kamaru, promising to go all out when he meets Usman when they go head to head.
“You can hear it yourself, see it yourself – these guys want violence,” Masvidal said.
The first time Usman and Masvidal met, in July 2020, “Gamebred” had stepped in on less than a week’s notice to challenge for the title after Usman’s original opponent, Gilbert Burns, contracted COVID-19.
Usman dominated the fight with clinch work and takedowns. Usman (18-1) beat Masvidal via unanimous decision in a fairly one-sided bout.
Usman, 33, is looking for his fourth straight title defense and his 14th straight UFC victory.
Masvidal (35-14) is one of the biggest stars on the UFC roster. The Miami native was on a three-fight winning streak before falling to Usman last year.
In 2019, Masvidal knocked out Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz in a span of eight months to become one of the hottest MMA athletes in the world. The latter was for the mythical BMF title at Madison Square Garden.
Masvidal, 36, has been a pro fighter for almost 18 years but has just recently become one of the most popular MMA athletes in the world.
