In a best-case scenario, the UFC 251 main event between UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and late replacement challenger Jorge Masvidal would have either given the titleholder the final boost he needed to become a major star, or capped the veteran challenger’s improbable ascension to superstardom.
Instead, when the duo finally got into the cage Saturday night, what went down was, well, what we probably should have expected from a guy who was fighting on six days’ notice against a champion who had to compensate for an entirely different challenger than the one for whom he prepared.
Masvidal gave it his best shot in the opening round, then Usman did what was needed in order to stifle an opponent who is capable of ending things in the blink of an eye. Usman went to his grappling base and stayed there, never giving “Gamebred” an opening to get back into the fight. The champ cruised to a unanimous decision to finish the UFC’s debut event on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
Sometimes, fight-game gambles pay off spectacularly. Sometimes, decisions are made that make it easy to say in hindsight the promotion could have simply gone on with UFC 251 with two title fights and held off the welterweight title fight until Usman’s originally scheduled foe, Gilbert Burns, recovered from COVID-19.
If you were a casual fan tuning in because you’re several months into the pandemic without most sports and wanted something to do on a Saturday night, it would make you wonder what the hype was about. The Usman-Masvidal snoozer came on the heels of a questionable decision in Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight title defense against former champ Max Holloway and a horrendous late stoppage in Petr Yan’s bantamweight title win over Jose Aldo, leaving a long night with a string of unsatisfying conclusions.
That’s unfair to a competitor like Usman, who stylistically resembles the greatest 170-pounder of all-time, Georges St-Pierre, but doesn’t have an entire nation’s fanatical worship papering over an at-times less-than-thrilling style the way the Canadian star did.
Usman just happened to be coming off the most exciting victory of his career in his finish of the mouthy Colby Covington at UFC 245. An exciting finish here against a hot Masvidal would have made the idea of exciting Usman fights into a pattern. But instead, a forgettable main event took place at an inopportune time.
“Maybe they need to get in there and fight Jorge Masvidal for 25 minutes,” Usman said at the post-fight news conference after being apprised of the fact many who considered the fight perhaps not the greatest ever conducted.
You can’t blame Masvidal for taking this opportunity when it was presented. The Miami-based fighter, who had been holding out for a better contract from the UFC, indicated during fight week that he was happy with the money he got to accept the title shot.
That’s the most important thing in the long run. Guys who grind away in this sport as long as Masvidal has rarely get rewarded. He’s the one who will have to live with the damage his body has taken over the years long after fans have forgotten UFC 251, so good on him for setting himself up for his future, no matter what might be said about Saturday night’s fight.
But one couldn’t help but notice Masvidal’s camp seemed a bit too self-satisfied in the brief run-up to this fight.
Nate Diaz was the one who came up with the “BMF” idea, not Masvidal. Masvidal simply capitalized by winning their fight at UFC 244. If Masvidal wants this ride on top to last the way Diaz’s has, it might be time to worry a little less about the personal mezcal brand and the video game cover, and tap back into the hunger that fed him when he was taking backyard fights organized by Kimbo Slice.
The good news? Masvidal already seems to get it.
“I just can’t wait,” Masvidal said at the post-fight news conference. “They’ll put an opponent in front of me and I’ll take care of business and I’m going to come back better than ever. I’m not going to go – I’m not going to disappear from the sport without this belt being wrapped around my waist, one way or another. It’s not my best performance tonight but everyone gets to see the dog in me, and that dog doesn’t shut up or roll over for nobody.”
The saying goes that you’re only as good as your last fight. Get Masvidal back in the cage with Diaz for a rematch, or go with the obvious grudge mach with former teammate Covington, and get Usman into that fight with Burns that still looks good on paper, and Saturday’s disappointing main event will be forgotten just as fast as it was put together.
After 'Fight Island' fantasy fizzles, Kamaru Usman, Jorge Masvidal back to drawing board | Opinion
