An exciting yet decisive welterweight title brought UFC 258 to the forefront of the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday. Kamaru Usman (18-1) moves to second place for the most consecutive wins (13) in UFC history after defending his third £ 170 title in a third-round TKO of former teammate Gilbert Burns (19 -4) made.
Let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from the pay-per-view card in general after a resounding win for one of the best for pounds in the sport.
1. Put (much) more respect on Kamaru Usman’s name
Let’s be honest, the likely retirement of unbeaten welterweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov puts an interesting wrinkle in the current P4P discussion in the UFC. Yes, former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been a fixed point on this list for almost a decade, but his recent fights have shown that the competition is slowly catching up with him. So, along with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Usman used the decisive nature of his TKO against such a dangerous enemy in Burns to drop himself in the conversation for the best fighter in the world.
Usman has been extremely dominant since making his UFC debut in 2015, but did so largely with his wrestling when he entered nine of his last 11 fights on Saturday. But the way Usman used a stab to put his right hand up and eventually finish Burns shows you how fast the 33-year-old champion continues to develop. Add to that the fact that he took Burns’ best shot in the first round and left only a fraction of his feet – one can no longer refer to Usman as boring or one-dimensional. It’s time to refer to Usman who he really is: possibly the best and most dominant fighter in the sport of today.
2. Trevor Wittman is very good at polishing diamonds
Giving too much credit to a coach instead of a fighter for his or her improvement can be a dubious action, but Wittman goes on to prove his ingenious ways with every elite fighter he commits to. After Rose Namajunas and Justin Gaethje helped make the final jump to their championship, Wittman clearly had just as big of an impact on Usman in their second practice camp.
Along with Usman’s slap in the face, which he used as a leader Georges St-Pierre as a main weapon, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ showed an increased ease of switching from attitude and giving Burns unexpected looks on his feet . Usman was already a dominant champion when he left Sanford MMA in Florida to join forces with Wittman, but it’s clear that their working relationship has worked wonders for Usman’s steady evolution. The fact that he can be so dominant and can only get better remains a narrow proposition for the rest of the sport, and still shows how valuable a mentor Wittman is.
3. It may be time for Maycee Barber to slow down her role
That doesn’t mean Team Barber should panic. But the polarizing 22-year-old prospect, who quickly lost time in her goal to set Jon Jones’ record as the youngest UFC champion, has now suffered a defeat for the second time in a row in a tough style match against Alexa Grasso. Barber, as she showed during the final round during the final round, still has such an attractive mix of power and explosion that helped her make a name for herself initially. But the last two fights have also exposed how much she still has to work from the point of view of footwork, technique and game planning to get to the title level.
Grasso suffocated or suffocated the response to Barber’s forward attack almost every turn in the germ and showed a better wrestling ability to keep her off the mat. Being young and naughty is fun, but experience cannot be replaced. For the second consecutive battle, Barber received the valuable assignment that often comes only from defeat. It will probably take longer than she wants before she becomes a legitimate title threat. Barber has the tools to get there, but she just needs more refinement.
4. Kelvin Gastelum reminded critics of his family tree
Very few fighters not named Yoel Romero can maintain their elite status within MMA, despite losing a three-fight battle after dropping four out of five combined. But the 29-year-old Gastelum, though as syrupy as he can be, just seems to be losing against the best fighters. The gap in the class was evident in Gastelum’s convincing decisive victory over Ian Heinisch, as the south leg relied more on his wrestling than his rocket left hand to get back into the winning column.
Gastelum said he entered the Octagon and is fighting for his job. Although his victory was far more laborious than spectacular, it was necessary for him to put the past away and go down a path where his flashes of glitter from the road become more a consistency than a departure. Gastelum probably earned him a big name to come back with the win, and is perhaps not as far away from a title shot, given his nominal value as critics would think provided he could continue to tie the victories together.
5. To hinder the betting opportunity
Middleweight Anthony Hernandez, who has won just one of his last four heats, was a giant race against unbeaten Brazilian forward Rodolfo Viera. And if you like Hernandez to win via submission? Talk about a long shot at 30-1. Few people could have imagined the wild first round that would happen next when Viera Hernandez wrestled and took his back with ease in the first 30 seconds but could not deliver a tap. The effort he made to try to do so surprisingly left the sculpted Viera a seated duck when it became clear late in the round that he was exhausted.
The huge swing in momentum was dramatic, as Viera was lucky to make it to the second round, and could not revive himself once the second stanza was underway. Hernandez came together to do what felt most impossible to get into: send Viera in via kata-gatame-choke to complete a big upset, reminding us that the bets there are a guideline, but far from the gospel in this constantly unpredictable sport.