Jorge Masvidal may have not captured UFC gold on July 11 but his drawing power can’t be denied at this point.
Masvidal challenged Usman for the UFC welterweight championship in the main event of UFC 251. This was the promotion’s first stop on the “Fight Island” trip. “Gamebred” showcased the grappling defense he was working on but Usman is simply the best at 170 pounds. “The Nigerian Nightmare” earned the unanimous decision victory thanks to sticking to Masvidal like glue and keeping up his pace for all five rounds.
Dana White Labels Jorge Masvidal A ‘Massive Star’
When Masvidal stepped in on short notice to replace Gilbert Burns at UFC 251, interest in the event shot up. While the whole “Fight Island” tag grabbed the attention of fans, Masvidal took things to another level. Speaking to reporters during a media scrum on Tuesday, White said Masvidal’s stardom can’t be denied (via MMAFighting).
“I said it to you guys the other night, when you put on a fight, a successful promotion of an event, it’s a big melting pot of different things,” White explained. “’Fight Island’ was a massive star in this thing. Masvidal is a massive star. Obviously, Usman, the champion and a guy that we’re all start to realize is tough to beat and a great card underneath.
“It all came together perfectly. It was a major success. Everybody’s healthy. It’s all good. Literally not one negative thing that I could point out.”
The Athletic recently reported that UFC 251 is trending to do 1.3 million PPV buys. Not even UFC 249, which was the UFC’s first PPV since seemingly the entire world went into lockdown due to COVID-19, could match that number. It’s the most PPV buys for a UFC event since UFC 229 back in Oct. 2018. That was headlined by a massive title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
