The Ultimate Fighting Championship left few stones unturned in building the roster for its debut on Fight Island, where three title bouts mark the promotion’s return to the Middle East.
Kamaru Usman will put his undisputed welterweight crown and 15-fight winning streak on the line when he meets American Top Team’s Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 251 main event this Saturday on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski defends his featherweight championship in a rematch with Max Holloway, and Petr Yan faces Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight title in the two co-headliners.
UFC 251 “Usman vs. Masvidal”—which streams to ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT—also features a women’s strawweight rematch pitting Jessica Andrade against fellow former champion Rose Namajunas and a women’s flyweight showcase matching Amanda Ribas with Paige VanZant. ESPN and ESPN+ are scheduled to share coverage of the prelims at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, while UFC Fight Pass carries the early prelims at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.
A closer look at the UFC 251 “Usman vs. Masvidal” particulars:
THE LINEUP
170: Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal145: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway
135: Petr Yan vs. Jose Aldo
115: Jessica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas
125: Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant
205: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jiri Prochazka
170: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Muslim Salikhov
145: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Danny Henry
155: Leonardo Santos vs. Roman Bogatov
265: Marcin Tybura vs. Maxim Grishin
125: Raulian Paiva vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
135: Karol Rosa vs. Vanessa Melo
135: Davey Grant vs. Martin Day
THE RUNDOWN
• Preview: Main Card• Preview: Prelims
• Weigh-in Report
• Prime Picks
• By The Numbers: Usman vs. Masvidal
• By The Numbers: Volkanovski vs. Holloway
• By The Numbers: Yan vs. Aldo
• The Bottom Line: A ‘Gamebred’ Gamble
• The Big Picture: Pandemic Preparation
• Debets: Masvidal Victory Would Be Epic
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