Kamaru Usman is out for Jorge Masvidal’s blood following his successful title defense at UFC 258.

After battering Gilbert Burns to a third-round TKO in Saturday’s headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Usman made it clear there’s a fight he’s interested in above all others: a rematch with Masvidal.

Usman (18-1 MMA, 13-0 UFC) earned a dominant unanimous decision win over Masvidal (35-14 MMA, 12-7 UFC) last July at UFC 251, but the fight didn’t meet the expectations of many – including the champion himself – after coming together on just six days’ notice. Usman isn’t satisfied with that and wants a second go with Masvidal to leave no questions.

“He had a built-in excuse,” Usman told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at UFC 258. “That’s the only reason he took that fight. We tried to make that fight twice before; he said no. … He’s been saying no. The only reason he took that fight on ‘Fight Island’ is because there was a built-in excuse. He was training the whole time, but he said, ‘Oh, I only had six days’ notice so that’s why that went that way.’ Well guess what? I’ll give you a whole training camp, and this time I will stop him. I promise you.

“That’s why I was disappointed in myself that last fight, because I know I can stop him. But with all the circumstances that took place, I just went out there and dominated him from start to finish. So this time I will stop him if he wants to step up, but I guaranteed you he doesn’t want to. He’s going to be quiet.”

There has been ongoing discussions about Masvidal’s next fight coming against former best friend turned heated rival Colby Covington. With Usman’s demand, though, there’s a possibility the promotion switches gears.

UFC president Dana White was noncommittal, however, but made it clear he would at least listen to Usman’s request.

“There’s a lot of options for him right now,” White said. “If that’s the fight he wants, and that’s the fight Masvidal wants, and I’m sure the people would like to see it, too. … I don’t know.”

Usman said he’s ultimately going to knock down any obstacle put in front of him, but it’s obvious that Masvidal is the most appealing to him. If he gets his wish, he promised it would end worse for “Gamebred.”

“I’m going to put him in a coffin this time,” Usman said. “He don’t want that fight. He don’t want that fight. I guarantee he don’t want that fight. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t want it. Have I lied up here yet? Have I lied to you guys yet about anything? Nothing. I said what I wanted to do, and that’s what I’m going to do. We’ll see if it materializes.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-258-kamaru-usman-wants-jorge-masvidal-rematch

Hear everything Gilbert Burns had to say after the battle against Kamaru Usman. At the UFC 258 post-fight press conference, hear what Burns had to say as to why he lost to Usman.

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/gilbert-burns-why-i-lost-to-kamaru-usman-ufc-258-post-fight-press-conference

Hear everything Kamaru Usman had to say at the post-fight press conference after defeating Gilbert Burns at the UFC 258.

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/kamaru-usman-admits-it-was-a-difficult-night-taking-out-friend-gilbert-burns-at-ufc-258

Leon Edwards has made it clear he’s ready for anybody now that Khamzat Chimaev is out of their UFC Fight Night headliner on March 13.

That includes Colby Covington, who UFC president Dana White on Friday pegged as the frontrunner to fight Edwards next month at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. However, the matchup is far from finalized.

Edwards (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) apparently has no trepidation about taking on Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC), though, as he made it clear Saturday that he’s ready (via Twitter):

Colby can get this work too. Then the title next. Its strap season#anybodycangetit

— Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards (@Leon_edwardsmma) February 13, 2021

Colby can get this work too. Then the title next. Its strap season
#anybodycangetit

In the immediate aftermath of Chimaev’s withdrawal due to COVID-19 complications, Edwards made a big callout of Nate Diaz to take the fight. Diaz hit him with the stiff-arm, though, rejecting the Brit with a famous Conor McGregor meme (via Twitter):

And who the fuck is this ? pic.twitter.com/V4SYsZqFWq

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) February 12, 2021

Edwards didn’t think fondly of Diaz’s (20-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) reply, and he let him know (via Twitter):

nate your photoshop skills are as bad as your fight record. and you used conor’s line wtf 😂

— Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards (@Leon_edwardsmma) February 13, 2021

nate your photoshop skills are as bad as your fight record. and you used conor’s line wtf 😂

And finally, Edwards took aim at his longtime rival, Jorge Masvidal. The pair have a colorful history, with Masvidal infamously punching Edwards backstage after they both earned victories at a March 2019 event in London.

The card Edwards is hopeful to still headline in March is almost exactly two years to the day of the incident with Masvidal (35-14 MMA, 12-7 UFC). However, Edwards doesn’t seem optimistic about a resolution (via Twitter):

We all know that bitch Jorge will be nowhere to be seen when it comes to fighting me. 😂

— Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards (@Leon_edwardsmma) February 13, 2021

We all know that bitch Jorge will be nowhere to be seen when it comes to fighting me. 😂

Although the high profile fights appear to be plentiful for Edwards, it remains to be seen who, if anyone, will agree to get in the octagon with him one month from now.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-news-leon-edwards-rips-colby-covington-jorge-masvidal-nate-diaz-twitter

A new video shows just how real and serious the struggle has been for UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev to recover from COVID-19, leaving his manager, Majdi Shammas, flabbergasted.

“Crazy. What can you say?” Shammas said. “I have no words.”

The video, released Friday on Frontkick.online’s YouTube channel, follows Chimaev’s training this week until the day he withdrew from his UFC Fight Night headliner vs. Leon Edwards on March 13. This marked the second time that Chimaev has pulled out of a booking with Edwards because of lingering complications from the coronavirus, which he first contracted in early December.

In the video, Shammas details how Chimaev has been “in and out of the hospital so many times” in recent weeks as he’s experienced chest pains, high fever, headaches, and muscle pain. Chimaev’s withdrawal from the Edwards fight coincided with an abruptly stopped training session that led to Chimaev being hospitalized.

“He was really bad. He didn’t even do two rounds straight. He did one round and then rested,” Shammas said. “He started coughing, started feeling ill again, and we had to cancel the training. He even went in an ambulance to the hospital.”

Shammas said Chimaev felt so bad, “when he called me, he thought he was going to die.”

After that, Shammas made the decision to notify the UFC that Chimaev would not be able to compete March 13. Looking ahead, Shammas wants Chimaev not to worry about training and focus solely on getting healthy.

“He has to rest a little bit, get his body fully functional. Then he can start training again,” Shammas said. “… Some stuff is not up to him. Sometimes you have to step in and firmly say how it is. I can’t let him train. Who knows? This time, he started training, he got lucky (it wasn’t worse). Next time he might not be this lucky. I’m not gonna take that risk. It doesn’t matter.”

Chimaev (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) broke out in a big way last year to earn MMA Junkie’s “Newcomer of the Year” award. The 26-year-old made his UFC debut on July 16 and beat John Phillips by second-round submission. He then won his second fight 10 days later (a UFC non-tournament record) when he TKO’d Rhys McKee in the first round. Chimaev topped off his 2020 with a 17-second knockout of Gerald Meerschaert on Sept. 19.

Chimaev and Edwards originally were supposed to close out the year as the final UFC headliner of 2020 on Dec. 19, but the fight was canceled after Edwards tested positive for COVID-19.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-khamzat-chimaev-thought-he-would-die-covid-19-hospitalized