“I want that damn belt, and I’m stubborn,” Masvidal said of the UFC welterweight title, per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “And I know I’m better than Usman, and I want to prove it. I want to fight again. I’m not going to take nothing from him; he won the first one. Let’s do it again.”
Even if UFC offered @GamebredFighter an opportunity to headline “the biggest PPV event [in] history” against Conor McGregor, Masvidal says he’d turn it down for a rematch with Kamaru Usman. (via @arielhelwani) https://t.co/Ewb70QU7is
Usman won a unanimous decision and was the clear victor on Saturday. He had a 263-88 edge in total strikes and landed 94 signature strikes to Masvidal’s 66, per UFC.com. Usman’s five takedowns illustrated how he was largely in control for the majority of the five rounds and content to out-wrestle his opponent rather than go for a knockout.
The result wasn’t too surprising since Masvidal was added to the UFC 251 card less than a week before the event on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He was a last-minute replacement for Gilbert Burns, who tested positive for COVID-19.
Immediately after Saturday’s fight, Masvidal and Usman met in the middle of the Octagon, with the former throwing out the idea of a rematch.
After their #UFC251 fight was over, @USMAN84kg and @GamebredFighter spoke about running it back in the future https://t.co/3zcl29jYLh
He shouldn’t be punished severely for losing a fight for which he had so little preparation time. UFC dropped him from third to fourth in its official welterweight rankings. Assuming the 35-year-old rebounds with a win when he returns to the cage, he’d have a strong case to get a rematch against Usman.
UFC might have a strong financial incentive to pursue a return bout, too. The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger reported UFC 251 generated 1.3 million buys, the company’s biggest pay-per-view number since UFC 229 in October 2018.
