UFC 261 took place Saturday, April 24, 2021 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The card was headlined by a welterweight title bout between champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Jorge Masvidal.
Closing odds are courtesy of one of the most popular Las Vegas based sportsbooks Circa Sports. Here’s a quick recap of each of those fights.
Favorites that Won
In the main event of the evening, Kamaru Usman landed stiff jabs and takedowns early against Jorge Masvidal, then landed a picture perfect right hand to knock Masvidal out cold in the second round to retain his welterweight title. Usman was -345 while Masvidal was +285
Women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko dominated Jessica Andrade every second of their fight, eventually wrapping Andrade up in a crucifix and forcing a stoppage to the fight when Andrade couldn’t defend a barrage of elbows. Shevchenko was -470 while Andrade was +375
Randy Brown caught Alex Oliveira in a modified rear naked choke, then used the leverage of his long limbs to force Oliveira to tap out in the first round. Brown was -125 while Oliveira was +105
Dwight Grant and Stefan Sekulic duked it out in a competitive three-round affair. The fight could have gone either way, but the judges sided with Grant via split decision. Grant was -180 while Sekulic was +155
Brendan Allen got the fight to the floor, then got into a leg lock battle with Karl Roberson, one he ended up winning when Roberson tapped out with five seconds remaining in the first round. Allen was -150 while Roberson was +130
Pat Sabatini outgrappled Triston Connelly for the first two rounds, then survived the third round as he started to tire to win a unanimous decision in his UFC debut. Sabatini was -235 while Connelly was +200
Danaa Batgerel caught Kevin Natividad with a beautiful left hook as he was charging forward, stopping him in his tracks to earn a first round TKO. Batgerel was -225, while Natividad was +195
Qileng Aori put on great pressure early, but Jeff Molina dropped him twice in the second round, then put on a striking clinic in the third round to walk away with a unanimous decision in the Fight of the Night. Molina was -130 was while Aori was +110
In the opening bout of the evening, Na Liang came out strong, landing a big shot early and grappling well against Ariane Carnelossi, but she ran out of steam and Carnelossi battered her with ground and pound to score a second round TKO. Carnelossi was -210 while Liang was +180
Underdogs that Won
Rose Namajunas looked low, then came high with a head kick to knock out Weili Zhang and regain her women’s strawweight title. Namajunas was +175 while Zhang was -200
Chris Weidman shattered his own leg on the first kick he threw against Uriah Hall, ending the fight in devastating fashion. Hall was +165 while Weidman was -145
Jimmy Crute was finding success with his pressure, leg kicks and takedowns, but Anthony Smith landed a perfect kick that temporarily deadened Crute’s leg nerve and made him unable to put weight on it, forcing a stoppage between the first and second round. Smith was +210 while Crute was -245
Rodrigo Vargas used his superior grappling to score takedowns and held on to survive a late push from Zhu Rong to win a unanimous decision. Vargas was +180 while Rong was -210
