UFC 261 Main Card Recap
By: Michael Sewell
UFC 261 was a huge event for fans around the world. For the first time in this pandemic-era, a UFC event was put on with a live audience in Jacksonville, Florida. Three title fights headlined the card and fighters from many different countries were represented. Overall it was a stacked fight card on paper and it definitely lived up to the hype.
Starting off the main card was a light heavyweight match between Jimmy Crute and Anthony Smith. Crute came in as the young prospect looking to take down the big name veteran in Anthony "Lionheart" Smith. The bout started with Smith looking good early on landing jabs and crosses at will and using his veteran savvy to outstrike Crute. Later in the round a nasty kick from Smith visibly hurt Crute and led to a desperation takedown to get the fight to the ground. On the ground, Crute looked good and in control but his leg looked badly injured. The round ended and Crute could hardly stand let alone walk and the doctor and referee had to call for a stoppage to the fight. With the stoppage Smith was given the win and Crute was obviously very disappointed but his health and safety should come first.
The next match was in the Middleweight division featuring Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall. This match made history in being the first victory ever where the winner did not land a single strike. The way this came about however was horrifying and gruesome. Chris Weidman threw a leg kick about 20 seconds in that snapped his tibia and fibula and he immediately went down. His leg was visibly broken and he was rushed to the hospital soon after and hopefully he has a full recovery.
After the scene, we go to our first title fight of the night between women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade. To this point, no one has really given Shevchenko a hard fight in her reign and many thought Andrade would be a huge test. Shevchenko proved to be on another level in terms of fighting skills as she completely dominated the fight before getting a TKO victory in round 2.
Women's strawweight Champion Zhang Weili was next to defend her title against former champion Rose Namajunas. This was the most closely contested title fight of the night in terms of betting odds, giving us fans something to look forward to. The hype was real as both ladies looked extremely focused ready to capture a huge moment. The fight did not show much before Namajunas ended the night early with a beautiful head kick that stunned the champion Weili, before getting the stoppage a couple punches later. Namajunas delivered a very emotional interview showing her passion and dedication had paid off once again.
The main event featured a rematch between welterweight champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Jorge Masvidal. No love was lost between these two combatants and the intensity was felt early on. Many expected Usman to wrestle Masvidal down as he did in their first bout to gain the victory. What people did not expect, was the knockout that Usman delivered to a man in Masvidal who had never previously been knocked out. A clean punch in round 2 knocked Masvidal out cold and cemented Usman's status as a clear legend of the sport. Overall the card delivered many shocking and wow moments and definitely was a great return card for the fans.