In what will go down as one of the greatest events in UFC history and in my opinion the most pivotal event in company history, we saw 3 world championship fights all end in spectacular fashion, a snapped leg, and another freakish injury to open the card. With some of the rowdiest fans in attendance for all of it.
Some of the most memorable moments in UFC History went down. The images, with crowds, the emotions, KO’s, etc. all made for a WILD scene.
Kamaru Usman KO’s Jorge Masvidal in the 2nd round out COLD. Now I picked Kamaru to win this one, but not at all in this way. This was a VICIOUS Knockout, the first of Masvidal’s loooong career. It has put an end to this rivalry and really showed who the better fighter was at the end of the day. Where does Kamaru go from here?
Well I believe he has a rematch with Colby Covington, who poses the biggest threat to Usman bar none. We could see Usman face the winner of Edwards-Diaz as well. I also really loved how humble and classy Jorge was in defeat, really always cool to see from these fighters with really intense rivalries.
https://twitter.com/branded_sports/status/1386301036575461383
NEVER DISRESPECT THIS MAN AGAIN. #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/s1N3ak5hSV
— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2021
https://t.co/c3imeg4utK pic.twitter.com/fqtm2JqroM
— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2021
In the co main event, is when shit really really hit the roof. Rose Namajunes WITH THE HIGH KICK to KO Weili Zhang in the 1st freakin round?? Are you kidding me Rose?? She shocked the world AGAIN? I also can’t get over her extremely emotional post fight interview, this sport is as real as it gets. If you have followed Rose’ story, this probably made you emotional like myself. It was a big upset too. Most media and experts had picked Weili. Not me, I was rolling with Rose the whole time. I wasn’t the most confident in this one, but man Rose was amazing.
Weili was out for a second and that was that. Rose became the first women to reclaim her world title after losing it and also broke a 21 fight winning streak from Weili dating back to 2013.
Amazing stuff. The crowd going wild really really made a huge difference.
A habit of shaking up the 🌎. #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/i6Xfg9byzM
— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2021
#UFC261 Result: Rose Namajunas knocks out Zhang #Weili in the first round to win the UFC Strawweight Championship.
“I felt I could come back,” Zhang said. “The referee stopped it a little early.”
She also congrats Rose Namajunas on social media after the fight. pic.twitter.com/43A0Uu41S0— WatchTower 环球瞭望台 (@WatchTowerGW) April 25, 2021
🤯😱😳
Commentator cam came up big at #UFC261 😅 pic.twitter.com/UPZsalrNeP
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) April 25, 2021
In the first title fight of the night, we saw a DOMINANT performance from Valentina Shevchenko as she absolutely annihilated top contender Jessica Andrade for 2 rounds. This was a masterpiece of a performance. While she entered as a -500 favorite, I think Andrade would put up more of a fight potentially with her super dangerous power. NOPE.
Valentina is about as good in this sport as it gets. She is the perfect Mixed Martial Artist, and the only women in the world that can beat her is Amanda Nunes, who has done it twice already. It really goes to show you how good Amanda is and how far Valentina has come as well.
LIKE WE SAID. #UFC261 https://t.co/N54jHa75yA pic.twitter.com/KIsPqc3eqN
— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2021
Nothing like the roar of a crowd 🗣
We missed these moments. #AndStill pic.twitter.com/ns1Yt3BoHo
— UFC (@ufc) April 25, 2021
Now lets get to gross part of the night where former champion, Chris Weidman snapped his leg in half on a kick to Uriah Hall. It was a really tough sight to see and I personally was close to getting sick at those replays. My god it was gross. Prayers up to Weidman for a speedy and successful recovery. Its never fun to see a fighter go down like this, after months and months of training, its a real tough sight to see something like this happen.
https://twitter.com/branded_sports/status/1386151158734073856
And to start the PPV, we saw top prospect Jimmy Crute go down with a leg injury, not quite or even close to what Weidman went thru, but it was a tough injury. It seemed like when he got kicked, one of his nerves in his leg just went completely dead. He tried to start the 2nd round but the ref called it and rightfully so. A tough loss for Crute vs Anthony Smith, but i do expect him to be back and better than ever.
Now why was this event so pivotal? It showed how BIG the UFC is. It showed that sports can bring fans back safely. It showed that this sport has the best athletes and competitors in the world and its not even particularly close. The way the fans reacted to the finishes, the fighters, etc. was really cool to see.
I do not however condone any sort of booing towards Weili Zhang and Kamaru Usman or any fighters. They work TOO hard to be boo’d the way they were, even after the fight. This sport is really based on respect, and in most countries the booing isn’t the way it is like it is in the U.S.
I do believe when we look back on it, when this sport and organization are number 1 in the world, we’ll look at this event, the first with fans back, 3 of the greatest champions in history, we’ll say how pivotal this was. To truly see the fans back was a sight to behold, and only further made many realize that this is indeed, the top sport in the world.
I believe that many casual fans that maybe tuned in because fans were back, have now become REAL fans of the sport and these athletes due to this event. It’s popularity is going to skyrocket.
Thank you to the GOAT, Dana White. I am so excited to see what’s next.