The UFC returns Saturday night with its second pay-per-view of the year, UFC 258, where the UFC welterweight title will be on the line.

UFC 258 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

In the main event, UFC 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) defends his belt for a third time against former teammate Gilbert Burns (19-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC). And in the co-headliner, Maycee Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) returns after a year-long layoff due to a knee injury to take on rising flyweight contender Alexa Grasso (12-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

The fifth episode of “Embedded” follows all the big stars who will compete at UFC 258. Here’s the UFC’s description from YouTube:

Kelvin Gastelum trains with a longtime coach. Ian Heinisch reflects on lessons learned through struggles. Gilbert Burns attends virtual media day; Gastelum gets sidetracked. Champ Kamaru Usman reacts to seeing himself get emotional on screen.

Missed an episode? We’ve got you covered:

• UFC 258 ‘Embedded,’ No. 1: Gilbert Burns feels ‘like a million bucks’ ahead of title shot
• UFC 258 ‘Embedded,’ No. 2: Kelvin Gastelum’s big sendoff
• UFC 258 ‘Embedded’ No. 3: Kamaru Usman compares path to Rashad Evans
• UFC 258 ‘Embedded,’ No. 4: Maycee Barber’s kitchen workout

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-258-embedded-5-kamaru-usman-gets-emotional-journey

Nate Diaz appears to be displeased that his callouts of Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira have fallen on deaf ears.

Diaz (20-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) recently spoke out and mentioned the names he’s interested in fighting this year. Oliveira, who was one of his choices, said thanks but no thanks. Now Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 NC UFC) appears to be headed into a trilogy match with Conor McGregor this summer.

This doesn’t seem to have sit well with Diaz. Friday, he ripped into Poirier, McGregor and UFC president Dana White in one fell swoop (via Instagram):

A post shared by Nate Diaz (@natediaz209)

Don’t forget who started this G sh*t
The real uncrowned King
No rematches ever given.
Dustin you do what your told by your daddy’s u lil b*tch 👊🏼

Diaz was scheduled to fight Poirier once at UFC 230 in November 2018. The matchup never materialized, but after Poirier knocked out McGregor in their rematch at UFC 257 last month, Diaz came calling.

Poirier said Diaz was one of the few fights in the game that interested him after beating McGregor, but instead all signs to him running it back with the Irishman for a deciding rubber match.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/02/ufc-news-nate-diaz-reacts-dustin-poirier-conor-mcgregor-trilogy-fight-dana-white-twitter

Though nothing has yet been officially determined with the bout, UFC president Dana White on Friday confirmed that Bobby Green collapsed backstage following the UFC 258 weigh-in.

Green is supposed to face Jim Miller on the UFC 258 main card on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Miller easily made weight early in the two-hour UFC 258 weigh-in window, but Green was the final fighter to the scale with 15 minutes left. He made weight, but then did not appear for the UFC 258 face-offs when the main card fighters started taking the stage.

Following the face-offs, White stuck around to answer questions from reporters in his typical UFC pay-per-view post-weigh-in scrum, where he confirmed that Green had collapsed. He did not, however, provide an update on the fight’s status, as Green was still being treated.

“Bobby Green just collapsed back there. Doctors are looking at him. They’re trying to rehydrate him right now,” White said.

He believed that it was most likely the weight cut that caused Green to collapse, but didn’t want to speak out of turn without checking with the medical team first.

“Gotta be (the weight cut), but don’t quote me on that.”

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/bobby-green-collapses-backstage-at-ufc-258-weigh-ins

The UFC 258 weigh-ins went off without a hitch on Friday with all the card’s athletes making weight.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the UFC 258 face-offs. When the main card fighters were introduced, Jim Miller and Bobby Green were notably absent.

A short time later, UFC president Dana White confirmed to reporters that Green had collapsed backstage and was being tended to by doctors.

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TRENDING UFC 258 weigh-in results: Kamaru Usman cuts it close, but Gilbert Burns bout set

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-258-usman-vs-burns-face-offs-video

(Per Haljestam, USA TODAY Sports)

Considering the action that the smaller cage encourages, I would not be surprised to see the “wrestling versus jiu-jitsu” theme collide inside of the clinch.

Given the clear path that the champion’s style and strength afford him, it will be interesting to see if Usman elects to take the submission specialist that is Burns down. Thankfully for Usman, steering Burns toward his preferred place of attack along the fence hasn’t traditionally been the most difficult thing to do – though I’d argue that out-wrestling the Brazilian is a trickier ask than meets the eye.

Burns, who is the much more accoladed submission grappler, will carry the on-paper edge in grappling exchanges irrespective of size or strength differences.

I say this all the time, but not all black belts are created equal, and Burns is a prime example of that. An IBJJF world champion both in and out of the gi, Burns was able to translate his brand of grappling quickly into the MMA space.

More importantly, Burns was not afraid to work with wrestling influences from standouts like Greg Jones to catch wrestling coaches like Neil Melanson. Integrating these crucial styles into his repertoire, there are now little-to-no positions that Burns is not comfortable or capable of working from.

Whether he is defending takedowns along the fence and striking off the breaks or hitting sweet trips and chaining takedowns of his own, Burns’ wrestling improvements remain to be one the things that quietly impresses me most. That said, as underrated as that part of his game may be, taking down Usman is an entirely different story.

Not only does the sitting champion bring a perfect takedown defense percentage to the table, but Usman’s clinching style tends to stymie a broad range of attacks.

As referenced earlier, Usman prefers to get a lot of his wrestling done off of the fence via corralling and clinching efforts. Once establishing his office in this space, the champ wastes little time in going to work with everything from foot stomps to crafty overhooks that interweave into wrist controls (a la Jon Jones).

Wrestling at a Division II level for three years (where he was also a two-time national finalist), Usman has always shown the freakish ability to both finish and defend shots from sometimes surprising positions.

Coupled with his work ethic and determination, Usman was able to over-perform in a multitude of ways, especially considering that he didn’t even start wrestling until mid-way through high school.

After helping high-level fighters with their own wrestling, Usman ended up making the jump into mixed martial arts, where he has steadily built onto his imposing wrestling game and presence. Whether he is hitting takedowns in the open or chaining his attempts along the fence, Usman has, for the most part, been able to do what he wants to wrestling-wise inside of the octagon.

Freakish takedown ability aside, Usman also bears an impressive intelligence in transition that could help aid him in his matchup.

Demonstrating excellent positional awareness, Usman always seems to make high-percentage choices whether he is passing or punching. Using suffocating wrestling rides that stymie everything from posts to submission attempts, Usman will seamlessly hit his transitions while steaming his opposition underneath him.

However, as good as Usman’s top game is, I suspect that Burns’ semi-recent propensity to attack legs will be a live threat throughout this contest.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-258-usman-vs-burns-analysis-predictions