UFC: 251 Recap – The champion defends his belt against a formidable adversary

BY MARCEL MARIAK

The UFC 251 event, held on July 11th at the secretive Fight Island, was not your typical UFC fight night. Instead of the fights being fast and action packed, they were slow, deliberate, and strategic. While many people found the event to be boring and lacking in pace; martial arts scholars and hardcore fight fans alike were soaking up every minute of the hostilities! Here’s a breakdown of the cerebral and tactical UFC 251!

Petr Yan defeats the UFC veteran, Jose Aldo
The first notable fight of UFC 251 featured two skilled strikers competing for the vacant Bantamweight Championship belt. The showdown saw the relatively green Petr “No Mercy” Yan taking on the well-established UFC veteran, Jose Aldo.

Despite Aldo being a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Yan being only a blue belt in the discipline, both fighters seemed to have an agreement to keep the fight standing. For five merciless rounds, both fighters engaged in a violent striking showdown that bore more resemblance to a Muay Thai bout than an MMA fight.

Although Aldo is an accomplished and formidable fighter, with more than double the fights of Yan on his professional record, Yan was undeterred and continued going punch-for-punch with the former Featherweight Champion. In the end, youth prevailed. Petr Yan dropped Aldo with punches in the early seconds of the fifth round. From there, he unleashed a vicious ground-and-pound attack that opened up a serious cut on Aldo’s face and finished the fight in the middle of the final round. After nearly half an hour of fierce combat, Petr Yan emerged as the new UFC Bantamweight Champion.

Volkanovsky bests Holloway by the skin of his teeth
In the world of MMA, one of the most commonly loathed situations is when a fight goes the distance and it’s up to the judge to decide the winner. Unfortunately, MMA judges are not infallible; and while most of the time, they make sound decisions when choosing a victor, there are other times when MMA fans are left scratching their heads and wondering what in the world really happened. This was one of those fights.

The co-main event of UFC 251 put the UFC Featherweight title on the line as Max Holloway challenged the reigning Alexander Volkanovsky for his belt. This was the second time the two warriors would meet in the octagon, with Volkanovsky defeating Holloway for the Featherweight Championship a few months prior.

The majority of the fight consisted of a striking battle. While Volkanovsky made multiple attempts to take Holloway down to the canvas, his opponent successfully defended the takedowns and the fight continued standing up. Throughout the bout, it was difficult to tell which fighter was dominant. Both competitors seemed comfortable with the pace of the fight and the momentum of the battle was never overwhelmingly in favour of either one of the fighters.

After five championship rounds, the judge’s scorecards chose Volkanovsky as the winner by split decision; and he retained possession of his champion status. Unfortunately, the judge’s decision was not appreciated by the MMA community; with many fans and commentators arguing that Holloway was the better fighter and robbed of the Featherweight championship.

Kamaru Usman’s foot-stomping title defence
The highly anticipated main event of UFC 251 saw Jorge Masvidal challenging UFC Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman on only a week’s notice. Few were surprised when the holder of the BMF belt jumped on the opportunity to take on Kamaru Usman. The two fighters have had some beef in the past, with a couple of insults being thrown between the fighters in recent times.

When MMA fans heard of the main event showdown, they were expecting Masvidal to take the fight to Usman in a merciless battle. Unfortunately, for the fans who were expecting a fast and stunning fight, Usman had different plans for the bout. The champion dominated the fight; and he used his superior stand-up grappling skills to pin Masvidal against the cage and deliver a barrage of one of the most feared and dangerous moves in MMA: the foot stomp. That’s right! For five championship rounds, Kamaru Usman pinned Masvidal to the cage and refused to let him move: all while mercilessly stomping his big toe into the afterlife.

For hardcore fans and experienced martial artists, the fight was a great display of grappling and control by Usman. Unfortunately, the rest of the viewers who were simply looking to be entertained found themselves falling asleep. In the end, after twenty-five minutes of ruthlessly abusing his opponent’s phalanges, the judges crowned Usman the winner by unanimous decision; and he added yet another title defence to his portfolio. While Kamaru Usman might not be the most thrilling and fancy fighter to watch, after his victory over Masvidal there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most effective fighters in the MMA world.