Burns tested for COVID and has been removed from UFC 251 according to MMAjunkie. The fight is expected to be rescheduled to a later date when both Burns and Usman will be healthy.
Max Holloway says he did his training camp solo, no sparring, only Zoom coaching. Sounds like some El Cucuy shit.
Sucks for Burns, I hope he gets his shot when he comes back. Helwani is confident that Masvidal and Usman will be happening next week. The fight would have to be finalized in the next 24 hours. Masvidal would have to fly to Vegas, get covid testing, then fly to Dubai, get Covid testing, and then again on Friday. Seems like a lot. Hopefully he can pull it off.
Sounds like it is official. https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020...svidal-welterweight-title-booked-fight-island
That is a badass replacement for Burns. Usman would be wise to immediately take Masvidal down as soon as each round begins.
Masvidal's ground game is very underrated. He's worked with Olympic level wrestlers almost his whole career. I really think he's going to present some challenges for Usman. I still pick Usman to win; but I want Masvidal.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET) Champ Kamaru Usman (170) vs. Jorge Masvidal (170) – for welterweight title Champ Alexander Volkanovski (145) vs. Max Holloway (145) – for featherweight title Petr Yan (135) vs. Jose Aldo (135) – for vacant bantamweight title Jessica Andrade (115) vs. Rose Namajunas (116) Amanda Ribas (126) vs. Paige VanZant (126) PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) Volkan Oezdemir (205.5) vs. Jiri Prochazka (205) Muslim Salikhov (171) vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (171) Makwan Amirkhani (146) vs. Danny Henry (146) Roman Bogatov (155.5) vs. Leonardo Santos (156) PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET) Maxim Grishin (223) vs. Marcin Tybura (252) Raulian Paiva (129)* vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (126) Vanessa Melo (141)** vs. Karol Rosa (136) Martin Day (136) vs. Davey Grant (136) *Paiva missed the flyweight limit and will surrender 20 percent of his purse to Zhumagulov. **Melo missed the women’s bantamweight limit and will surrender 30 percent of her purse to Rosa. https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020...asvidal-volkanovski-holloway-weigh-in-results
Results Kamaru Usman def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo via TKO (strikes) – Round 5, 3:24 – to win vacant bantamweight title Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:21 Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:49 Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 3:15 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 knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:38
For 6 days notice; Masvidal impressed. His wrestling looked solid; you could just tell he didn't have a gas tank. Props to Usman for implementing his will; I don't see anyone other than maybe Burns or Colby beating him. His clinch game and wrestling is too damn solid. Its unfortunate he's got 18 different personalities and all of them are corny, cringe, or stale. I think we'll see Masvidal v. Edwards next. It seems like Conor is trying to arrange a Nate III fight; but who knows...maybe we'll get Nate v. Mas II. Maybe even Masvidal v. Colby? I think Masvidal might be able to catch Colby on the feet and probably hang with him on the mat. Colby's pressure and pace would probably prevail though if the latter happens. I had no issues with Volk getting the SD. I think that fight exemplifies what's wrong with MMA judging. Max scores two knockdowns; but they really didn't phase Volk much or have any lingering effects; so all they did was secure Max rounds 1-2. I felt Volk landed the better shots in rd 3 and won 4,5. He scored two takedowns that he did nothing with but I'm sure the judges scored well for him. I just don't see Max as motivated anymore. He seems burned out to me. He went into cruise control in the 3rd round and never got back on his horse. Maybe its the cut to 145? Who knows...either way, I think Volk just has his number. Its time to move on from this matchup. I'd like to see Max go up to 155; take some time and do it properly. He doesn't have much KO power and I don't think 155 will be that kind to him; but he's got to switch something up. Max v. Hooker or Ferguson could be fun. Aldo looked great and then gassed.
