UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has retained his title after knocking out his opponent Jorge Masvidal in the second round in the main event of UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday.
A first-round that did not disappoint the fans had continued with more explosive action in the second.
Usman landed a perfect right hand that took the lights off Masvidal, with the Nigerian landing five hammer shots to close up the fight.
The knockout came at one minute, two seconds.
The fight is the first UFC card in front of a 15,000 capacity crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down spectator sports in March 2020.
With Sunday’s victory, the Nigerian recorded the second-longest winning streak in UFC history. Earlier, Usman tied with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones with 13 straight wins.
At UFC 251 last year, Usman beat Masvidal via unanimous decision in a fairly one-sided bout.
But Masvidal came into that fight on just six days’ notice after Usman’s initially scheduled opponent, Gilbert Burns, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Masvidal is one of the biggest stars on the UFC roster. The Miami native was on a three-fight winning streak before falling to Usman last year and this year.
In 2019, Masvidal knocked out Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz in a span of eight months to become one of the hottest MMA athletes in the world. The latter was for the mythical BMF title at Madison Square Garden.
Masvidal, 36, has been a pro fighter for almost 18 years but has recently become one of the most popular MMA athletes globally.
