0 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
So principal for Valentine’s Day lovefests.
The UFC’s second pay-per-behold of 2021 culminated in a war of two beforehand conclude company and training companions vying for welterweight gold within the promotion’s initial title wrestle of the yr.
The match between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns in a roundabout scheme occurred after more than one delays and became placed atop a 10-bout card that became broadcast by ESPN+ from the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The show disguise became trimmed from 11 fights no longer long ahead of the first punches had been thrown within the 7 p.m. hour, thanks to a non-COVID illness that saved flyweight Gillian Robertson from meeting Miranda Maverick.
Blow-by-blow man Jon Anik shared the determination with analysts Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan from cageside, and the B/R wrestle sports actions crew became in its perch to assemble a record of the show disguise’s right winners and losers.
Prefer a gawk at what we came up with and let us know what you mediate with a verbal strike of your dangle within the feedback.
1 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
It became all about intensity.
First and critical, the ferocity became intense.
On the pause, the emotion became equally intense.
And in between, Usman’s viciousness became intense.
The reigning welterweight champion worked thru the discomfort of meeting a longtime friend and training colleague within the cage, shaking off a principal-spherical buzz to brutalize and quit No. 1 contender Burns within the first minute of Spherical 3 of their pay-per-behold principal tournament.
“Gilbert is a man I knew from the open. I love him,” Usman mentioned. “Right here is my cage. I am the undisputed welterweight champion for a reason. If you happen to step into my cage, we’ve to head to work.”
The pause came after a right jab from Usman—realigned correct into a southpaw stance—dropped Burns to his reduction early within the third spherical after he’d already been punished right thru the second.
Usman pounced and landed a chain of punishing flooring strikes, rendering the Brazilian unable to either spoil out or wrestle reduction and prompting an intervention at 34 seconds of the third.
Usman immediately started strutting around the cage while Burns rolled to his knees and sobbed loudly sufficient to be heard by adjoining microphones.
The champion sooner or later stopped and knelt alongside his challenger, and the two males shook hands and embraced for a entire lot of moments as a distraught Burns buried his head into Usman’s shoulder.
At some level of introductions, Usman walked straight in direction of Burns and went nose-to-nose with him, and then refused to the contact gloves ahead of the wrestle started.
“This one became a magnificent one. A truly, very tricky one,” Usman mentioned. “You would perhaps perhaps perhaps perhaps no longer discredit what Gilbert Burns has performed on this division. But I am the varsity guy. I am an entire ‘nother savage. He saw that tonight.”
Burns had his second within the first spherical when he landed an overhand accurate that rapid dropped Usman to his knees. He arose rapid, nonetheless, and though he became hit a entire lot of more times within the spherical, he became never yet again in noticeable hazard.
“That’s the bulk of how sparring went. He can buzz you,” Usman mentioned. “Any one else on this division goes to sleep. I became esteem, ‘Oh s–t, OK. Time to head to work.'”
It became Usman’s 13th consecutive score within the welterweight division and the third defense of the title he gained from Tyron Woodley in March 2019. Burns had arrived with six straight wins, including a demolition of Woodley in his most most up-to-date wrestle.
“I construct no longer know the scheme a man who’s been this dominant may perhaps perhaps perhaps also simply additionally be underrated, nonetheless he’s nonetheless underrated,” Rogan mentioned. “Gaze at what he’s doing to the scariest males within the enviornment at 170 pounds. How construct you beat that? The person’s in his high and he’s getting better. He’s getting better.”
2 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
It wasn’t long within the past that Maycee Barber became all that.
The 22-yr-extinct, nicknamed The Future, started her UFC profession with three straight victories and became working in direction of the next ranking and a title shot remaining January when she encountered Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246.
The broken-down downed Barber by unanimous determination and injured Barber’s knee to the level where she had work performed on it. She hadn’t fought within the 392 days since the defeat.
Barber nonetheless maintained her No. 10 ranking at flyweight and arrived at Saturday’s closing trudge-up bout as a licensed to conclude down No. 15 Alexa Grasso.
But while the future need to nonetheless be coming, or no longer it is apparently no longer right here yet.
Grasso oldschool markedly improved jiu-jitsu abilities to surprise her heavy-fisted rival, chasing submissions for 2 rounds ahead of surviving the closing five minutes to kill a unanimous determination.
All three judges scored it 29-28 in Grasso’s desire, and Barber clapped when the determination became introduced.
“Oh my God, I trained so, so no longer easy,” Grasso mentioned. “I instructed you. I instructed you I am working so, so no longer easy to conform. I are searching for to be fat in all areas to be hiking within the rankings.”
3 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
Kelvin Gastelum became battling for his occupational lifestyles.
After all, the California-essentially based mostly mostly fighter hadn’t gained a bout since defeating Jacare Souza by spoil up determination reduction at UFC 224 in Can also 2018. He lost to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 236, which became adopted by a determination loss to Darren Till and a submission defeat to Jack Hermansson.
Seems some guys are better below intense, job-saving tension.
Gastelum became clearly a bigger fighter Saturday evening, controlling issues with both his hands and toes in a unanimous-determination defeat of No. 15 contender Ian Heinisch. One mediate gave him all three rounds, while the assorted two scored it two rounds to 1, or 29-28, for the winner.
The triumph became the 10th UFC score in opposition to six losses and a no-contest for Gastelum, who’s ranked No. 9.
“Or no longer it has been three years since my remaining score,” he mentioned. “Or no longer it is miles rarely easy to get motivated yet again. But you may perhaps perhaps per chance be ready to construct it when you place your mind to it. I anticipated my ride to play a job on this wrestle.”
Gastelum pressed the action and initiated the exchanges within the outlet spherical, though Heinisch became intermittently a hit on the flooring while attempting to work into an armbar. Identical eventualities adopted within the heart spherical as successfully, ahead of Heinisch rallied with better all-around work within the third.
B/R had it 29-28 for Gastelum.
“Of us forget most steadily how accurate Kelvin Gastelum is,” Rogan mentioned. “As Roy Jones Jr. says, ‘Y’all musta forgot.'”
4 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
When it regarded Maki Pitolo had the total answers, Julian Marquez modified the questions.
Menacingly dubbed The Cuban Missile Crisis, Marquez found himself in hazard of losing as his principal card middleweight wrestle because it entered its closing spherical ahead of he place collectively a closing-minute miracle.
“My coach, James Krause, instructed me I had to exit there and get it performed, so I went accessible and obtained it performed,” mentioned Marquez, after submitting Pitolo with accurate 43 seconds remaining in Spherical 3. “I believed, ‘I am no longer giving up.’ All individuals else gave up on me. James Krause became one amongst the few who believed in me.”
Clearly beaten on both his toes and on the mat by Pitolo across the first 10 minutes, Marquez regarded the brisker of the two as the closing spherical started and rapid made an impact with highly efficient head strikes—including an especially brutal spinning elbow to the pinnacle.
A badly wobbled Pitolo went for a survival-mode takedown nonetheless may perhaps perhaps perhaps not total the shot and found himself liable to a choke. Marquez seized his foe’s neck and rolled to his reduction to stable an anaconda choke, locking Pitolo’s arms and leaving him unable to spoil out and compelled to faucet out at 4: 17.
An exhausted Marquez dropped to his knees in ecstasy, while a crestfallen Pitolo, nicknamed Coconut Bombz, slumped on his stool and apologized to his crew.
“That’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat accurate there,” Anik mentioned. “It tells you the best scheme conclude and how brutal our sport may perhaps perhaps perhaps also simply additionally be. It fully is a large score for Julian Marquez and his crew. His crew instructed him what he wanted to construct within the third spherical, and he went and did it.”
5 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
Listening to Anik, Cormier and Rogan squeal with pride?
Priceless.
The broadcast crew became reveling in dropped-jaw glee within the preliminary card’s spotlight wrestle when unheralded underdog Anthony Hernandez survived early difficulty and rallied to crumble an exhausted Rodolfo Vieira in an legend middleweight encounter.
Unbeaten in seven profession MMA fights and a world-class jiu-jitsu practitioner, Vieira obtained Hernandez to the flooring early and regarded ready for a handy e book a rough submission victory ahead of the Californian survived and obtained the wrestle reduction to a horizontal assign.
From there, the storyline modified rapid.
“On the flooring as I defended, I became esteem ‘Oh, he’s no longer that powerful,'” Hernandez mentioned. “I accurate instructed myself ‘Stop amassed. Breathe out of it.’ So I stayed amassed and listened to the recreation blueprint.”
Hernandez wobbled Vieira with note-up headshots within the first spherical’s closing little while and precipitated the licensed to stumble to his corner and exhaustedly sag on his stool. The intermission did the Brazilian no accurate, nonetheless, as Hernandez pressed the assault and yet again brought the wrestle to the flooring.
Rapidly after, he locked an arm-in guillotine choke that precipitated a faucet at 1: 53 of the second.
“I knew I became going to construct it. I’ve never felt more ready for a wrestle,” he mentioned. “I knew after the first, I in fact like his ass.”
The score became Hernandez’s eighth in 10 overall fights and lifted his UFC ticket to 2-2.
“Is that this no longer what needs are fabricated from?” Cormier mentioned. “We’re over right here giddy; we’re esteem schoolgirls since it became so unexpected. You construct no longer get guys esteem that to faucet. The person became in there to lose, nonetheless he did not catch that as his assign.”
6 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
Shapely watching Belal Muhammad is an no longer easy sufficient proposition.
So the process that Dhiego Lima had on Saturday evening, in fact battling the Chicago-essentially based mostly mostly welterweight over 15 cardio-sapping minutes, became completely nothing to envy.
Ranked 13th at 170 pounds, Muhammad became an infinite licensed and showed myriad reasons why, pursuing and battering his foe in nearly every exchange across three rounds.
“That’s my thing,” he mentioned. “I wished to reach reduction out fast and early.
“I went accessible and did what I wished to construct.”
Certainly, Muhammad completed with a profession-ideal 124 indispensable strikes to Lima’s 64, yet again and yet again wobbling his foe and never staying stationary long sufficient for Lima to mount a critical rally.
Forty-three of those strikes came within the closing spherical, his highest entire in any of the three sessions.
“His recreation blueprint is to spoil him, to close on high of him and spoil him,” Rogan mentioned. “He’s this kind of pit bull.”
The score became the fourth in a row for Muhammad, lifting his full of life ride to the fourth-longest amongst welterweights gradual Usman, Leon Edwards and Burns.
He oldschool a post-wrestle chat to call out Li Jingliang, ranked one assign sooner than him at No. 12.
“He persisted to strive,” Cormier mentioned of Lima, “nonetheless he melted in front of Belal Muhammad.”
7 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
Or no longer it is one thing to get punched within the mouth.
However the early card fights showed accurate how devastating a less heralded make of putting may perhaps perhaps perhaps also simply additionally be.
Calf kicks to the left legs of opponents Andre Ewell and Philip Rowe had been the unspectacular, nonetheless completely efficient, solutions of victory for winners Chris Gutierrez and Gabe Green within the first two fights.
Gutierrez ran his UFC document to 4-1-1 with a unanimous-determination score over Ewell, whose legs had been enormously struck 32 times, leaving him wobbly and unable to evade his foe’s note-up punches, in particular in a dominant third spherical that clinched the score on two of the three scorecards.
The 32 leg strikes had been 49 percent of the winner’s 65 indispensable strikes overall.
“He did exactly what he wanted to construct to assign his designate on this wrestle,” Cormier mentioned. “This younger man has a large scheme of discovering that low leg kick. When he will get going along with his putting, he’s so terrible. Or no longer it’ll be no longer easy for somebody who can’t accurate flooring him to beat him.”
One bout earlier, Green connected with 19 indispensable leg strikes in opposition to Rowe, additionally rendering him less efficient and main to decisive knockdowns in a slim unanimous determination.
“The low leg kicks like revolutionized the sport,” Rogan mentioned. “That technique of assault modified the entire lot.”
8 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Bruce Buffer mentioned it became a unanimous determination.
But no longer one amongst the guys on the ESPN philosophize crew knew who’d earned it.
That’s how mysterious the outlet preliminary bout between welterweights Gabe Green and Philip Rowe became ahead of Buffer broke the suggestions, asserting Green as a slim winner on all three cards.
The Californian earned his first Octagonal victory by two counts of 29-28 and one amongst 30-27 in a bout that featured three rounds with razor-skinny margins. B/R agreed with the bulk and had it 29-28 as successfully.
“I wasn’t as accurate as I wished to be, nonetheless I definitely felt a hell of principal better,” mentioned Green, who’d lost a three-rounder to Daniel Rodriguez in his UFC debut in Can also and hadn’t in fact gained a wrestle since August 2018 in California XTREME Preventing. “Or no longer it has been a truly very long time coming.”
Blessed with indispensable advantages in high and reach, Rowe did successfully early with piquant punches from distance, nonetheless he never dissuaded Green from applying tension and sustained indispensable hurt to his lower leg left from Green’s highly efficient kicks. Two low blows—one on a kick and one more on a punch—perceived to weaken Rowe as successfully, and persisted kicks to the leg yielded a knockdown unhurried in Spherical 2.
Rowe smartly obtained issues to the flooring within the third, nonetheless he became unable to assign his foe in indispensable submission hazard ahead of the warring parties obtained reduction to their toes.
Once gorgeous yet again, the blows to the legs became basically the most telling offensive optics within the closing two minutes, including one more apparently decisive knockdown with 45 seconds left.
Rowe rolled his eyes when Buffer completed his announcement, while Green smiled broadly nonetheless before the entire lot headed straight reduction to the locker room somewhat than transferring to the interview space for a chat with Rogan.
“I’ve been waiting a truly very long time to behold advice from you,” Green mentioned, to which Rogan laughingly replied, “Then why did you stroll away?”
9 of 9
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Fundamental Card
Kamaru Usman def. Gilbert Burns by TKO (punches), 0: 34, Spherical 3
Alexa Grasso def. Maycee Barber by unanimous determination (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch by unanimous determination (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Ricky Simon def. Brian Kelleher by unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Julian Marquez def. Maki Pitolo by submission (anaconda choke), 4: 17, Spherical 3
Preliminary Card
Anthony Hernandez def. Rodolfo Vieira by submission (guillotine choke), 1: 53, Spherical 2
Belal Muhammad def. Dhiego Lima by unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Polyana Viana def. Mallory Martin by submission (armbar), 3: 18, Spherical 1
Chris Gutierrez def. Andre Ewell by unanimous determination (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
Early Preliminary Card
Gabe Green def. Philip Rowe by unanimous determination (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
