UFC 251 Results: Usman vs. Masvidal

UFC 251 opened the UFC’s Fight Island series at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Broadcast on July 11, 2020, in the United States and held on July 12 locally, the event featured three title fights led by Kamaru Usman’s welterweight defense against short-notice challenger Jorge Masvidal.

Usman’s control defeats Masvidal

Masvidal replaced Gilbert Burns shortly before the event. He had useful moments in the early striking exchanges, but Usman repeatedly imposed clinch pressure, takedowns and ground control. That approach reduced Masvidal’s opportunities to create sustained offense.

Usman retained by unanimous decision after five rounds. The main event was a contest for the UFC welterweight championship; Masvidal’s promotional BMF belt was not the title being defended.

Volkanovski retains; Yan becomes champion

Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway met in an immediate featherweight rematch. Holloway started strongly, but Volkanovski adjusted as the fight progressed. The champion retained by split decision, an outcome that generated debate over the scoring.

Petr Yan stopped Jose Aldo in round five to win the vacant bantamweight championship. Their fight developed from competitive striking into sustained pressure and ground offense from Yan. The final result placed a new champion in a division whose title had been vacated by Henry Cejudo.

Rematches, debuts and the preliminary card

Rose Namajunas edged Jessica Andrade by split decision, reversing the result of their first meeting. Amanda Ribas submitted Paige VanZant, and Jiri Prochazka announced his UFC arrival with a second-round knockout of Volkan Oezdemir.

The remaining bouts included decision wins for Muslim Salikhov, Leonardo Santos, Marcin Tybura, Raulian Paiva and Karol Rosa. Makwan Amirkhani submitted Danny Henry, while Davey Grant knocked out Martin Day. All 13 completed fights took place in the indoor arena, rather than on the beach training cage prominently shown in Fight Island promotion.

Complete UFC 251 results

• Kamaru Usman def. Jorge Masvidal — unanimous decision, R5, 5:00; retained welterweight title.
• Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway — split decision, R5, 5:00; retained featherweight title.
• Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo — TKO (punches), R5, 3:24; won vacant bantamweight title.
• Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade — split decision, R3, 5:00.
• Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant — submission (armbar), R1, 2:21.
• Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir — KO (punch), R2, 0:49.
• Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos — split decision, R3, 5:00.
• Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry — technical submission (anaconda choke), R1, 3:15.
• Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Davey Grant def. Martin Day — KO (punch), R3, 2:38.

Sources

UFC 251 official results; Sherdog: UFC 251 complete event record.

Article Tags

UFC, UFC 251, Mixed Martial Arts