The Nigerian Nightmare, Kamaru Usman has agreed to a rematch against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 on the 24th of April, UFC President, Dana White has announced.
The fight is expected to take place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida in the United States of America. The fight will be in front of a full crowd, the first of such in over a year since the pandemic broke out, and around 15,000 fans are expected to be in attendance.
It would be the main event and third of three title fights scheduled for UFC 261, with the other two in the women’s strawweight division.
The Nigerian Nightmare, Usman is 18-1 in the UFC, and is on a 13 fight winning streak, the longest ever in the Welterweight division in UFC history.
He last fought in February, when he defeated friend and former teammate, Brazilian fighter Gilbert Burns in Las Vegas in an emotion laden fight with a third round technical knockout.
Usman has been a title holder since he defeated Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in 2019, and he has successfully defended his title on three occasions since then. Jorge Masvidal, on the other hand is 36 years old and one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster.
He has a 35-14 record since he joined the UFC roster and holds the record for the quickest finish in UFC history when he defeated Ben Askren by knockout only five seconds into the fight.
Usman would look to continue in his bid to match Anderson Silva’s all-time UFC record of 16 successive victories, a feat he achieved between 2006 and 2012 when he steps into the Octagon with Masvidal.
Masvidal and Usman are no strangers to one another as they have already faced off once in Abu Dhabi in July last year, at UFC 251 where Usman was declared winner via unanimous decision over Masvidal.
The fight left Masvidal disgruntled, as he had only been drafted as a replacement for Gilbert Burns six days to the fight after Burns tested positive for COVID-19 when he was originally due to face Usman.
Masvidal has since been complaining about the fight, claiming that his defeat was caused by the short term notice and inadequate preparation for the fight on his part due to the impromptu nature.
A rematch has been touted since then, but Usman only responded after his win over Burns, calling out Masvidal to take him on in a rematch.
At the time, UFC President, Dana White said the rematch would only happen if both parties were willing to make it happen, and it looks like all of the criteria for the rematch have been met now, as both men will now do battle at UFC 261.
This fight would give fans who love betting on MMA another chance to win big if they picked the right fighter.
