The UFC will have a pay-per-view fight this weekend on Fight Island. Dana White has orchestrated an island location to allow international fighters to compete during the coronavirus pandemic.
Many people believed this location would be somewhere in the Pacific. However, the location was announced as Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
UFC 251 is a stacked card. Welterweight Gilbert Burns was supposed to fight Kamaru Usman for the title. However, Burns tested positive for COVID-19.
In stepped Jorge Masvidal, who came in with only six days’ notice and has said he has a new multi-fight contract with the UFC.
“I’m happy more than anything because I get to break this guy’s face and get paid for it,” Masvidal said.
But he has had an issue with the amount of money the UFC has offered him previously, but finally came to an agreement for UFC 251.
“I can understand you don’t want to give me that much on the guaranteed,” Masvidal said. “But on the pay-per-view, what I bring in, what people purchase, I want more money on that, and they weren’t budging. And that was that. So, all this craziness had to happen for them to come to their senses.”
He will likely continue to speak up for pay and might get it with the win on Saturday. But he is even more of an underdog than Burns was initially.
- Masvidal odds: +225
- Usman odds: -278
With Conor McGregor possibly never returning to the UFC, Masvidal is one of the biggest names in the sport. But Usman has all of the talent in the world.
Masvidal has been busy in the octagon. He has 35 wins, along with 13 losses. Usman has won 16 times with only one loss.
Masvidal has come into the competition talking plenty of trash. He is predicting a quick knockout, but this might be one of the, if not the toughest, fight he has ever had.
The biggest win in Masvidal’s career has to be beating Nate Diaz to capture the BMF belt. He also has one of the most memorable moments in UFC with a five-second flying knee knockout of Ben Askren.
Usman, “The Nigerian Nightmare,” is undefeated fighting in the UFC. He successfully defended this title in his last fight. He won Ultimate Fighter 21 and has been a dominant force in the UFC.
Other Fights
With this being such a stacked card, this won’t be the only great fight of the night. Undefeated featherweight Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway will be having a rematch of their 2019 fight for the title.
- Volkanovski odds: -230
- Holloway odds: +185
The third title fight of the night will be for the vacant UFC bantamweight belt. It will be between Jose Aldo and Petr Yan.
- Aldo odds: +200
- Yan odds: -250
UFC 251 will air this Saturday night on pay-per-view. The first contest of the five-card night will begin at 10 pm. This is the biggest UFC event since their restart after the COVID-19 suspension.