The UFC has managed to pull off one of the great late-replacement bookings in company history as Jorge Masvidal will fight Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title in the new UFC 251 main event.
After Gilbert Burns was removed from Saturday’s card because of a positive COVID-19 test, Usman (16-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) did not board a charter flight to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, where the event takes place. It appeared as though he would not compete, but the UFC reached terms with Masvidal (35-13 MMA, 12-6 UFC), and the fight has been agreed to.
MMA Junkie confirmed the news with two people close to the situation following an initial report from ESPN. The people requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
Usman, 33, and Masvidal, 35, must quarantine in Las Vegas and pass COVID-19 tests both before and after traveling to Abu Dhabi, which are the same protocols as all athletes on the UFC’s four “Fight Island” events in July. Masvidal arrived in Las Vegas on Sunday, while Usman was expected to arrive later.
The UFC’s next charter flight out of the United States is scheduled for Monday from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi. If Usman and Masvidal can pass pre-fight testing and get through the 24-hour quarantine, they are expected to be on that flight.
Should all involved navigate the hurdles, one of the most anticipated 170-pound title fights in recent memory will come to fruition.
Usman, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA welterweight rankings, is unbeaten in the UFC through 11 fights, which trails only Georges St-Pierre for the longest winning streak in divisional history. “The Nigerian Nightmare” won the belt from Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in March 2019 then registered his first defense against Colby Covington at UFC 245 in December.
No. 3 Masvidal, meanwhile, will fight for the first time this year after he was the 2019 “Fighter of the Year” in the minds of many. After taking a more than one-year layoff from the sport, “Gamebred” stormed back to the octagon and earne stoppage victories over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz, the latter of which made him the inaugural “BMF” champion.
UFC 251, which once again has three title fights scheduled, has a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
The lates UFC 251 lineup now includes:
- Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal – for welterweight title
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
- Petr Yan vs. Jose Aldo – for vacant bantamweight title
- Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas
- Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant
- Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jiri Prochazka
- Muslim Salikhov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Danny Henry
- Roman Bogatov vs. Leonardo Santos
- Alexander Romanov vs. Marcin Tybura
- Raulian Paiva vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Vanessa Melo vs. Karol Rosa
- Martin Day vs. Davey Grant
