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Marc Raimondi
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Brett Okamoto
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ESPN Staff Writer- MMA columnist for ESPN.com
- Analyst for "MMA Live"
- Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun
For the first time since 2007, the UFC will host its annual, marquee, pay-per-view event for the month of July at a location other than Las Vegas, as UFC 251 will be held Saturday on "Fight Island." It will be the first of four consecutive cards on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island.
The event features three title fights, including a main event, welterweight matchup in which the challenger -- Jorge Masvidal -- accepted the fight on six days' notice, and the champion -- Kamaru Usman -- was told to fly home just over a week ago, because his fight appeared to be off after Gilbert Burns tested positive for COVID-19.
The buildup to UFC 251, which will take place inside a "safe zone" amid the coronavirus pandemic, has been anything but conventional, but we've still arrived at arguably the best MMA card of the year.
In addition to Usman (16-1) vs. Masvidal (35-13), UFC 251 will see a featherweight title rematch between Alexander Volkanovski (21-1) and Max Holloway (21-5), and a bantamweight championship featuring Jose Aldo (28-6) and Petr Yan (14-1).
Another key bout features the return of Rose Namajunas, who faces Jessica Andrade in a rematch of their May 11, 2019, bout in which Namajunas lost her title via second-round KO. Andrade went on to lose the belt to Zhang Weili, and Saturday's winner could be Weili's next opponent.
Follow all the action here with live results, analysis and social media reaction from various fighters.
Fight in progress:
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (18-6, 5-5 UFC, -110) vs. Maxim Grishin (30-7-2, 0-0 UFC, -110)
Results:
Men's flyweight: Raulian Paiva (20-3, 2-2 UFC) defeats Zhalgas Zhamagulov (13-4, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision
Activity. Volume. Pressure.
Those three things seemed to be what helped Paiva earn a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Zhumagulov in a very close fight.
Paiva pushed the pace from the beginning and routinely pushed Zhumagulov's back against the cage with his striking. Zhumagulov had moments in each round. In the second, he landed a beautiful judo throw to ground Paiva. And in the third, Zhumagulov landed a left hand that wobbled Paiva momentarily, one of the best blows of the bout.
But Paiva, though his shots didn't do a ton of damage, threw more and was the more aggressive fighter, which the judges seemed to give the nod in the end.
Paiva (20-3) missed weight coming in by three pounds and forfeited 20% of his purse to Zhumagulov. The Brazilian fighter has won two straight. Paiva, 24, dropped his first two UFC fights, but has emerged as a flyweight prospect. Zhumagulov (13-4), a 31-year-old Kazakhstan native making his UFC debut, had a four-fight winning streak snapped.
-- Raimondi
Women's bantamweight: Karol Rosa (13-3, 2-0 UFC) defeats Vanessa Melo (10-8, 0-3 UFC) by unanimous decision
Brazilian bantamweight Karol Rosa has been scheduled to fight on four separate occasions in 2020, only to see all of them fall through due to circumstances caused by the coronavirus. When she finally got to make an appearance on Saturday, she did not disappoint.
Rosa thoroughly dominated her Brazilian counterpart Vanessa Melo over the course of three rounds, en route to a unanimous decision. Rosa won on all three judges cards, via scores of 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27.
Melo, who falls to 0-3 in the UFC, showed heart in the loss, but it was obvious she was completely out-matched. Rosa picked her apart on the feet for 15 minutes, landing jabs, inside leg kicks and right hands at will. According to UFC Stats, Rosa out-landed Melo in total strikes 159 to 85.
Rosa was scheduled to face Julia Avila in March, April and May, but every date fell through due to logistical challenges. Avila eventually moved on to a new opponent as well, as she knocked out Gina Mazany at a UFC Fight Night event in June. Rosa is now 2-0 inside the Octagon.
-- Okamoto
Men's bantamweight: Davey Grant (12-4, 3-3 UFC) defeats Martin Day (8-4, 0-2 UFC) by third-round KO
Grant fights incredibly infrequently. This was only his sixth UFC fight in the last seven years. Yet, when he's in the Octagon he's usually good for some thrills. He brought those to Fight Island.
Grant put Day to sleep with a left hand to notch a knockout at 2:38 of the third round in the UFC 251 opener Saturday night. Grant finished a punching combination with a left hook. Day didn't get his hand up in time to block it -- he was looking to counter -- and ended up falling to the canvas unconscious.
After a massive walk-off KO in Round 3, @DaveyGrantMMA tells Dana White he broke his jaw in the first round 😤 #UFC251
(via @danawhite) pic.twitter.com/RlnhIll1BB
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 11, 2020
Afterward, Grant said he broke his jaw earlier in the bout. Day dropped Grant in the first round. Grant was able to come back with fast punching combinations that hurt Day in the second. It was a very fun, fast-paced bout throughout.
Grant seemed tired in the third, but every time Day landed a combination, Grant came back with every more volume. At the end, Grant whipped a right hand that Day blocked and quickly came with a left, which Day never saw. That was it.
Grant (12-4) has won two straight following a two-fight losing streak. The 34-year-old England native has only been to a decision twice in his UFC run, though this was his first time earning a finish in a UFC win. Day (8-4), a 31-year-old Hawaii native, has lost two straight to begin his UFC career.
"I knew what he was coming for and I knew what I wanted," Grant said. "I thought I'm going to try and be technical in the first two rounds. I thought if it was all working, I'd go to town and then have a war. I wanted the first fight on UFC Fight Island to be a good war. I think we gave them that.
"I knew that if I could get inside (I could knock him out). I knew he has really good kicks and good hands. He dropped me in the first and I didn't know where I was at. I thought I'm still going to stand and trade with him. I wanted a fight like this in the UFC. I feel like I've been a bit cautious. I wanted to stand in the pocket and bang -- that's how you get the knockout. I want to be a main-card fighter."
-- Raimondi
Still to come:
PPV (via ESPN+), 10 p.m. ET
Welterweight championship: Kamaru Usman (c) (16-1, 11-0 UFC, -230) vs. Jorge Masvidal (35-13, 12-6 UFC, +190)
Men's featherweight championship: Alexander Volkanovski (c) (21-1, 8-0 UFC, -220) vs. Max Holloway (21-5, 17-5 UFC, +185)
Men's bantamweight championship: Petr Yan (14-1, 6-0 UFC, -240) vs. Jose Aldo (28-6, 10-5 UFC, +200)
Strawweight: Jessica Andrade (20-7, 11-5 UFC, +175) vs. Rose Namajunas (9-4, 6-3 UFC, -200)
Women's flyweight: Amanda Ribas (9-1, 3-0 UFC, -750) vs. Paige VanZant (8-4, 5-3 UFC, +525)
Prelims, ESPN/ESPN+
Light heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir (17-4, 5-3 UFC, -160) vs. Jiri Prochazka (26-3-1, 0-0 UFC, +140)
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (22-6, 8-2 UFC, +120) vs. Muslim Salikhov (16-2, 3-1 UFC, -140)
Men's featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani (15-4, 5-2 UFC, -200) vs. Danny Henry (12-3, 2-1 UFC, +175)
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos (17-4-1, 6-0-1 UFC, -165) vs. Roman Bogatov (10-0, 0-0 UFC, +145)
(c) = defending champion
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