Saturday, April 24, 2021

New on Sports Illustrated: UFC 261 Live Blog: Results, Highlights and Analysis

A championship tripleheader is about to take place in front of a packed crowd at UFC 261.

A championship tripleheader is about to take place in front of a packed crowd at UFC 261.

Whether it is too early for a full stadium is an entirely different subject, but the crowd will certainly add life to the fights on the main card. Headlined by a welterweight championship fight pitting Kamaru Usman against Jorge Masvidal, this has all the pieces necessary to be a tremendous card. The great Valentina Shevchenko also defends her flyweight title against Jessica Andrade, and Zhang Weili looks to make a statement in her strawweight title defense against Rose Namajunas, her toughest opponent to date.

Even the non-title bouts are compelling. In light heavyweight competition, Jimmy Crute looks to take the next step to stardom with a victory against Anthony Smith. Middleweights Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall also meet in a very exciting matchup, one that could spell doom for Weidman in UFC if he loses.

The focus here will be on Usman-Masvidal. This is a night of second chances; for Masvidal, who lost to Usman last summer; for Andrade, who seeks to erase the tag of fluke champion from her resume; and Namajunas, who has a chance to reclaim the title that once belonged to her.

Top to bottom, the entire 261 represents a massive night for the UFC.

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