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UFC 261 results: Historic night sees Usman, Shevchenko retain titles, Namajunas reclaim in an upset

In an historic night at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida, Kamaru Usman and Valentina Shevchenko retained their titles, while Rose Namajunas reclaimed the belt in an upset in UFC 261 on Saturday (April 24) ni

Kamaru Usman makes successful title defense (Image Courtesy: UFC)

Bengaluru, April 25: In an historic night at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida, Kamaru Usman and Valentina Shevchenko retained their titles, while Rose Namajunas reclaimed the belt in an upset in UFC 261 on Saturday (April 24) night.

In the main event of the main card which saw five stoppages, UFC welterweight champion Usman rematched #4 contender Jorge Masvidal and the first round was fast and thrilling. Usman's striking set up his big takedowns and Masvidal returned some elbows from the bottom position.

In the second, Usman opened up with his hands, and with a huge right hand knocked out Masvidal for the definitive conclusion to their rivalry.

In the co-main event, UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili made her second title defense against #1 contender Namajunas and the outcome was nothing short of stunning.

As the two circled each other, Namajunas let loose with a head kick that dropped Zhang to the canvas and the referee stepped in to stop the fight at just 1:18 of the first round.

UFC 261: Silva consoles Weidman after gruesome leg injuryUFC 261: Silva consoles Weidman after gruesome leg injury

In the third title bout of the night, UFC women's flyweight champion Shevchenko faced former strawweight champion #1 Jessica Andrade in the first of three title fights.

In the tense first round, Shevchenko showed off her wrestling with multiple takedowns and Andrade worked the body in the clinch. Shevchenko continued to dominate in the wrestling and ground and pound, finishing Andrade in the second round with cutting elbows for the TKO.

Also on the main card, Middleweight contenders #9 Uriah Hall and former champion #11 Chris Weidman rematched after 10 years with a heartrending outcome. Weidman's first kick broke his tibia against Hall's shin. Hall was given the TKO, but all joy was absent in the victory.

UFC 261: Kamaru Usman knocks out Jorge Masvidal to retain titleUFC 261: Kamaru Usman knocks out Jorge Masvidal to retain title

Former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith and #13 Jimmy Crute opened the main card with a banger of a first round that ended with one kick. Smith landed a low kick to the knee of Crute that stunned it and made him unable to stand on it, giving Smith the early TKO.

Earlier in the prelims and early prelims, while Dwight Grant, Pat Sabatini, Kazula Vargas and Jeff Molina claimed decision wins, Randy Brown, Brendan Allen, Danaa Batgerel and Ariane Carnelossi earned stoppage wins.



UFC 261: Usman vs Masvidal 2 Final Results



Main Card


1. Welterweight title bout: Kamaru Usman defeated Jorge Masvidal via KO at 1:02 of round 2

2. Women's Strawweight title bout: Rose Namajunas defeated Zhang Weili via KO at 1:18 of round 1

3. Women's Flyweight title bout: Valentina Shevchenko defeated Jessica Andrade via TKO at 3:19 of round 2

4. Middleweight bout: Uriah Hall defeated Chris Weidman via TKO at 0:17 of round 1

5. Light Heavyweight bout: Anthony Smith defeated Jimmy Crute via TKO at 5:00 of round 1


Preliminary Card


1. Welterweight bout: Randy Brown defeated Alex Oliveira via rear naked choke at 2:50 of round 1

2. Welterweight bout: Dwight Grant defeated Stefan Sekulic via unanimous decision

3. Middleweight bout: Brendan Allen defeated Karl Roberson via heel hook at 4:55 of round 1

4. Featherweight bout: Pat Sabatini defeated Tristan Connelly via unanimous decision


Early Preliminary Card


1. Bantamweight bout: Danaa Batgerel defeated Kevin Natividad via TKO at 0:50 of round 1

2. Lightweight bout: Kazula Vargas defeated Rong Zhu via unanimous decision

3. Flyweight bout: Jeff Molina defeated Aori Qileng via unanimous decision

4. Women's Strawweight bout: Ariane Carnelossi defeated Na Liang via TKO at 1:28 of round 2

Source: Press Release

Story first published: Sunday, April 25, 2021, 14:48 [IST]
Other articles published on Apr 25, 2021