KAMARU USMAN RETAINED his welterweight title by winning his 13th successive UFC bout on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The Nigerian-born Texan stopped Gilbert Burns with punches 34 seconds in the third round at UFC 258, taking his record to 18-1, defending his title for the third time, and breaking Georges St Pierre’s consecutive welterweight victories record in the process.
Usman was put down in the first round, but recovered impressively to stop Burns early in the third.
In the night’s other main bout, Mexican flyweight Alexa Grasso beat Maycee Barber by unanimous decision after a hard fought contest.
Four of the nine fights were decided by unanimous decision, with Kelvin Gastelum beating Ian Heinisch, Ricky Simon defeating Brian Kelleher, Belal Muhammad overcoming Dhiego Lima, and Christ Gutierrez outdoing Andre Ewell.
Julian Marquez beat Maki Pitolo via third-round submission, Anthony Hernandez won through a second-round submission against Rodolfo Vierira, while Polyana Viana gained a first round submission against Mallory Martin.
Different class, one of the most underrated athletes in combat sport.
@Niall Mc Gourty: Agreed. Also one of the cringiest though
@Niall Mc Gourty: I would have to disagree. He is 5th in the pound for pound rankings…… Not many people rated above him to be classed as underrated. Serious talent but well recognised.
Nonsense of an organization for the narrow heads. Please journal, stop covering this as a bona fide sport. It isn’t one.
@kieran: I’d be interested to understand this point more. As a start, and apologies for my ignorance, but what does narrow head mean? MMA certainly divides opinion and understandably so. I was lightly exposed to it at a younger age and have huge respect for the craft.
@kieran: of course it’s a sport full if world class athlete it’s quite simple if u don’t like it don’t watch it buts it’s hugely popular and entertaining it’s one of the fastest growing SPORTS in the world