UFC 251 went down tonight (Sat. July 11, 2020) from Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island aka Fight Island and we have the results. The world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion compiled an excellent card for fight fans to enjoy.
It was headlined by a meeting between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal for the UFC welterweight title. The co-headliner sawAlexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway in a featherweight title fight.
Rounding out the main card was Petr Yan vs. Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight title is the third championship bout, Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas in a women’s strawweight bout, and Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant in a women’s flyweight bout.
Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal
Masvidal came out quickly, but Usman was quicker to score a takedown within a minute of the first round. Masvidal got back to his feet, but Usman went back to the clinch. Masvidal had a cut on the temp of his left eye. As the round went on, Masvidal let his hands go and landed some good shots. In round two, Usman started to smother Masvidal with clinching and short strikes including shoulder checks to the jaw. Masvidal had a cut in the middle of his eyes. Starting in round three, Masvidal would have a flurry of strikes that he would throw before getting into the clinch that was brought on by Usman. After a pause in the action, Usman scored a takedown with about a minute to go in the third round. Once round four came around, Masvidal slowed down and became flatfooted, but he was still throwing heat. Usman scored another takedown in round five to finish up the work he did to successfully retain the title by decision.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Max Holloway
Volkanovski got stunned twice in the first round, first by a strike and then at the end of the round by a head kick, which briefly dropped him. Volkanovski had a mouse under his left eye. Holloway walked him down for the majority of the fight. Holloway briefly knocked him down to end the second round. Holloway continued to apply the pressure and never turned back. Volkanovski couldn’t find the range or get inside, which hurt him for the majority of the ground. It was a competitive fight, but it was clear that Holloway had the advantage. Coming out for round four, Volkanovski started to become more aggressive. Volkanovski got hurt by a spinning back kick in round four. Volkanovski scored a takedown in round four, but Holloway got back to his feet. They traded to the finish with Volkanovski getting a takedown, but the judges gave the win to Volkanovski by split decision.
Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo
Aldo was mixing up his kicks in round one, but Yan stuffed his takedown. Yan hit him in the ribs while Aldo was on his back and stunned him. Yan didn’t pounce with seconds to go but could’ve had a finish. It was a tactical fight as Aldo was leading with some damaging leg kicks. Aldo did stun him in the third round to the point where he had him up against the fence and rattling him. Yan got fired up at the end of round three and landed an excellent head/body combination. Round four showed Aldo getting tired and slowed down. As a result, Yan was landing and doing so in volume to the point where he busted open the nose of the former champion. He hurt Aldo up against the fence and scored a takedown. To start out the fifth round, Yan dropped him and got on top where he landed some powerful shots for the win.
Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas
They kept it standing for the first round and both girls threw and landed some heavy shots. With about 40 seconds to go, Andrade went in for a takedown and ate a knee strike right to the jaw. Both girls put on an entertaining affair. Namajunas was slipping through with her strikes and pushed forward as Andrade was looking for a way in, which most of the time came right through the middle. In the third round, Rose’s nose got busted open right before she was taken down although she got back to her feet. Andrade fought like she needed a finish in the third round and tagged her a few times. The judges gave the win to Rose by split decision.
Amanda Ribas vs Paige VanZant
Ribas walked down VanZant in order to clinch and scored a takedown. VanZant got caught in an armbar and tapped as a result.
It’s certain to have a great night of fights. Check out MMA News’ UFC 251 results below:
Quick UFC 251 Results
Main Card (ESPN+ pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Welterweight title bout: Kamaru Usman def. Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to retain the UFC Welterweight Championship
- Featherweight title bout: Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) to retain the UFC Featherweight Championship
- Vacant bantamweight title bout: Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo by TKO (punches) at 3:24 of Round 5 to win the UFC Bantamweight Championship
- Women’s strawweight bout: Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Women’s flyweight bout: Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant by submission (armbar) at 2:21 of Round 1
Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Light heavyweight bout: Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir by knockout (punch) at :49 of Round 2
- Welterweight bout: Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Featherweight bout: Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry by submission (anaconda choke) at 3:15 of Round 1
- Lightweight bout: Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov by unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Heavyweight bout: Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Flyweight bout: Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Women’s bantamweight bout: Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Bantamweight bout: Davey Grant def. Martin Day by knockout (punch) at 2:38 of Round 3
