By Blue Corner
February 14, 2021 9:15 pm

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After taking a shot at Jorge Masvidal in his UFC 258 post-fight interview with Joe Rogan after his victory over Gilbert Burns in his third title defense, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman elaborated on his jab at the BMF champion.

“He had a built-in excuse. That’s the only reason he took that fight,” Usmand said. “We tried to make that fight twice before, he said no.”

“The Nigerian Nightmare” was of course speaking in reference to his successful title defense over Masvidal at UFC 251 in July of 2020.

Masvidal took that fight on six days notice once Usman’s UFC 258 opponent (and his original UFC 251 title challenger), Gilbert Burns, pulled out due to contracting COVID-19.

“The only reason he took that fight on Fight Island was because it was a built in excuse,” Usman said. “He was training the whole time, but he said ‘Oh, I only had six days notice, so that’s why that went that way.’”

Usman then officially took aim, seemingly angling for a rematch against “Gamebred.” 

“I’ll give you a whole training camp and this time I’ll stop him,” Usman said. “I promise you. That’s why I was disappointed in myself that last fight, because I know I could stop him.”

When asked if Masvidal was the fight he wants, Usman did not discriminate against the rest of the top welterweight contenders.

“They can all get it, I don’t care,” Usman said. “They need to show me some activity. Show me something, step up and we’ll take care of business.”

Yet, from the time Usman sent those verbal jabs, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that he’s already in contact with the UFC about Masvidal and Usman as potential TUF coaches.

Masvidal’s manager Malki Kawa hopped on board with the idea of a rematch and a TUF season as well.

UFC president Dana White was also asked about a potential rematch between Usman and Masvidal.

“There’s a lot of options for him right now,” White said. “If that’s the fight he wants, and the fight Masvidal wants, then I’m sure the people would like to see it too.”

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Kamaru Usman’s full UFC 258 press conference

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Watch the recap and highlights from the UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns main event between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns from Saturday’s event at The Apex in Las Vegas.

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UFC Fight Night 186 has lost a women’s strawweight bout.

A matchup between Sam Hughes and Emily Whitmire has been removed from the Feb. 27 card in Las Vegas after Whitmire was forced out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons. It has yet to be announced if the bout will be rescheduled for a later date or if the fight will be scrapped all together.

Hughes confirmed the news Sunday on her social media, following a report from Cage Side Press.

Hughes (5-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was replacing Hannah Cifers on short notice to take on Whitmire. She is coming off a loss in December against Tecia Torres at UFC 256, which marked her promotional debut.

Whitmire (4-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has been submitted in back-to-back fights against Amanda Ribas and Polyana Viana. In her UFC tenure, Whitmire holds wins over Jamie Moyle and Aleksandra Albu.

Sorry y’all. No performance of the night for me on Feb 27th @Cagesidepress @ufc pic.twitter.com/8giaZg4gy3

— Sam Hughes (@samhughesmma) February 14, 2021

With the cancellation, the UFC Fight Night 186 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD

• Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane
• Raoni Barcelos vs. TBA
• William Knight vs. Alonzo Menifield
• Alexis Davis vs. Sabina Mazo
• Randy Brown vs. Alex Oliveira
• Alex Caceres vs. Kevin Croom
• Magomed Ankalaev vs. Nikita Krylov
• Montana De La Rosa vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
• Alexander Hernandez vs. Thiago Moises
• Vince Cachero vs. Ronnie Lawrence
• Macy Chiasson vs. Marion Reneau

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/sam-hughes-vs-emily-whitmire-off-ufc-fight-night-186-booking-women-mma

The UFC hosted its second pay-per-view of the year on Saturday with UFC 258, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with 10 fighters on a heavily-altered card.

In the main event, Kamaru Usman (18-1 MMA, 13-0 UFC) showed there’s no going back in the conversation about him being an all-time great in the welterweight division when he battered Gilbert Burns (19-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) for a third-round TKO to secure his third title defense at 170 pounds.

Usman’s name is all over the record books with the win, and for more on the numbers, check below for 40 post-event facts to come out of UFC 258.

Event stats

The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $169,500.

Usman, Julian Marquez, Anthony Hernandez and Polyana Viana earned $50,000 UFC 258 fight-night bonuses.

Debuting fighters went 0-1 on the card.

UFC 258 drew an announced attendance of zero for a live gate of $0.

Betting favorites went 7-3 on the card.

Betting favorites improved to 3-2 in UFC headliners this year.

Total fight time for the 10-bout card was 2:05:02.

Kamaru Usman def. Gilbert Burns

Usman extended his winning streak to 17 fights. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since May 2013.

Usman became the third fighter in UFC history to start 13-0 with the promotion. Anderson Silva and Khabib Nurmagomedov also accomplished the feat.

Usman’s 13-fight UFC winning streak is the longest active streak in the company.

Usman’s 13-fight UFC winning streak is tied for the second longest in company history behind Silva (16).

Usman’s 13-fight UFC winning streak at welterweight is the longest active streak in the division.

Usman’s 13-fight UFC winning streak at welterweight is the longest in divisional history.

Usman has defended 100 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC competition, the highest rate in company history.

Usman has been controlled for just two seconds in UFC competition, the least amount of time in company history for anyone with at least 10 appearances.

Burns fell to 4-1 since he returned to the welterweight division in August 2019. He’s 5-1 when fighting at the weight class.

Burns has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.

Alexa Grasso def. Maycee Barber

Alexa Grasso (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) improved to 2-0 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in August.

Grasso earned consecutive victories for the first time in her UFC career. She’d alternated results in her first seven octagon appearance.

Grasso has earned all five of her UFC victories by decision.

Maycee Barber (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered consecutive losses after starting her career 8-0.

Barber has suffered both of her career losses by decision.

Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch

Kelvin Gastelum (16-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) snapped his three-fight losing skid for his first victory since May 2018.

Gastelum improved to 4-4 (with one no contest) since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in December 2016.

Gastelum’s six takedowns landed marked a single-fight record in his UFC career.

Ian Heinisch (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) fell to 1-3 in his past four fights dating back to August 2019.

Heinisch has suffered all three of his UFC losses by decision.

Ricky Simon def. Brian Kelleher

Ricky Simon (18-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) earned his second UFC victory in a 24-day stretch. He also won at UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20.

Julian Marquez def. Maki Pitolo

Marquez (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished both of his UFC wins by submission.

Maki Pitolo’s (12-8 MMA, 1-4 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since June.

Pitolo has suffered six of his eight career losses by stoppage.

Anthony Hernandez def. Rodolfo Vieira

Hernandez (8-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned seven of his eight career victories by stoppage. He’s finished both of his UFC wins by submission.

Rodolfo Vieira (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) had his seven-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.

Belal Muhammad def. Dhiego Lima

Belal Muhammad (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) improved to 8-1 in his past eight fights dating back to February 2017. His lone defeat came against Geoff Neal at UFC on ESPN+ 1.

Muhammad’s four-fight UFC winning streak at welterweight is tied for the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Usman (13), Leon Edwards (eight) and James Krause (five).

Muhammad has earned 13 of his 18 career victories by decision. That includes seven of his nine UFC wins.

Dhiego Lima (15-8 MMA, 4-6 UFC) fell to 3-3 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in July 2017.

Polyana Viana def. Mallory Martin

Viana (12-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) has earned all 12 of her career victories by stoppage. She’s finished all three of her UFC wins by first-round submission.

Mallory Martin (7-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has suffered both of her career stoppage losses by submission.

Chris Gutierrez def. Andre Ewell

Chris Gutierrez (16-4-2 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) has earned three of his four UFC victories by decision.

Andre Ewell (16-8 MMA, 4-3 UFC) suffered his first decision loss since Feb. 18, 2017 – a span of 1,457 days (nearly four years) and 16 fights.

Gabe Green def. Philip Rowe

Gabe Green (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned the first decision victor of his career.

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