| UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | July 12, 2020 (2020-07-12) | |||
| Venue | du Forum | |||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Attendance | None (behind closed doors)[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 1,300,000[2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 12, 2020 at thedu Forum onYas Island,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[3] It was originally planned to take place on June 6 atPerth Arena inPerth, Australia.[4] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed on April 9(see section below).[5] In early June, it was confirmed that the event would instead take place in Abu Dhabi.[3]
The event would have marked the promotion's second visit to Perth, followingUFC 221 in February 2018. However, the promotion later announced on May 5 that it would officially postpone the realization of this event in Perth due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
While not officially announced by the organization, aUFC Featherweight Championship rematch between current championAlexander Volkanovski and former championMax Holloway was originally expected to headline the event on June 6.[7] The pairing first met atUFC 245, where Volkanovski defeated Holloway via unanimous decision to capture the title.[8] Volkanovski indicated in late March that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he would postpone his title defense on the initial June 6 date.[9]
AUFC Women's Flyweight Championship bout between current championValentina Shevchenko andJoanne Calderwood was expected to take place on the event's first date.[10] However, Shevchenko was forced to withdraw from the event on March 31 due to a leg injury and the bout was postponed.[11]
UFC presidentDana White stated on April 7 that he was pursuing an international venue — described as a "private island" or "Fight Island" — to facilitate the hosting of events involving fighters impacted by U.S.travel restrictions.[12][13]
On June 9, the UFC revealed that the "Fight Island" site would be Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and that it would also host four events in July.[3] This event was the fourth UFC event held on Yas Island overall, succeedingUFC 242 in September 2019. Additionally, there is a 10 square mile (16 km) "safety zone" on the island restricted to essential personnel. The designated area includes access to amenities such as hotels, restaurants and a training cage on the beach.[14] The fights took place inside thedu Forum — an indoor events arena. It does not have communal areas and those entering the site must go through "mist tunnels" to disinfect themselves from surface bacteria.[15][16]
Without fans in attendance, the promotion did not have to worry about scheduling the event for local primetime hours. The event was instead scheduled forprime time in the U.S.Eastern Time Zone; the full preliminary card began at approximately 2:00 am (July 12)Gulf Standard Time.[17]
AUFC Welterweight Championship bout between current championKamaru Usman (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight winner) andGilbert Burns was expected to headline the event.[18] However, it was announced on July 3 that Burns was pulled from the contest after he and his coach, Greg Jones,tested positive for COVID-19.[19] Pending pre-fight testing and a 24-hour quarantine,Jorge Masvidal was expected to serve as his replacement.[20] After he passed his initial test, the new main event was confirmed.[21]
The previously mentioned UFC Featherweight Championship rematch between Volkanovski and Holloway co-headlined the event.[22]
AUFC Bantamweight Championship bout for the vacant title betweenPetr Yan and formerWEC and two-timeUFC Featherweight ChampionJosé Aldo also took place at the event.[23] Former championHenry Cejudo announced immediately after his title defense atUFC 249 that he would be relinquishing the title and retiring from the sport.[24]
The following fights were also rescheduled for this event, after being scrapped due to different reasons from their original bookings:
A bantamweight bout betweenPedro Munhoz and formerUFC Lightweight ChampionFrankie Edgar was briefly linked to the event. However, promotion officials elected to schedule the pairing forUFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige four days later.[35]
A heavyweight bout betweenMarcin Tybura betweenAlexander Romanov was scheduled for the event. However, Romanov was pulled from the event after testing positive for COVID-19 and replaced by promotional newcomerMaxim Grishin.[36][37]
At the weigh-ins,Raulian Paiva andVanessa Melo missed weight for their respective bouts. Paiva weighed in at 129 pounds, three pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit. Melo weighed in at 141 pounds, five pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. Both of their bouts proceeded at a catchweight and they were each fined 20% and 30% of their individual purses, which went to their opponentsZhalgas Zhumagulov andKarol Rosa.[38]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Kamaru Usman (c) | def. | Jorge Masvidal | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Featherweight | Alexander Volkanovski (c) | def. | Max Holloway | Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Bantamweight | Petr Yan | def. | José Aldo | TKO (punches) | 5 | 3:24 | [c] |
| Women's Strawweight | Rose Namajunas | def. | Jéssica Andrade | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Amanda Ribas | def. | Paige VanZant | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 2:21 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Jiří Procházka | def. | Volkan Oezdemir | KO (punch) | 2 | 0:49 | |
| Welterweight | Muslim Salikhov | def. | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Makwan Amirkhani | def. | Danny Henry | Technical Submission (anaconda choke) | 1 | 3:15 | |
| Lightweight | Leonardo Santos | def. | Roman Bogatov | Decision (unanimous) (29–26, 29–26, 29–26) | 3 | 5:00 | [d] |
| Early Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Marcin Tybura | def. | Maxim Grishin | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (129 lb) | Raulian Paiva | def. | Zhalgas Zhumagulov | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (141 lb) | Karol Rosa | def. | Vanessa Melo | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Davey Grant | def. | Martin Day | KO (punch) | 3 | 2:38 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[40]
The event had a total fight time of 3 hours, 7 minutes and 27 seconds, surpassing the previous record holderUFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura.[41] The record was later broken byUFC 263 with 3:19:32.[42]
