Masvidal Reveals The Thing He Learned About Usman At UFC 251
Daniel Cormier believes if anyone has the ability to beat Kamaru Usman, it’s Jorge Masvidal, who reveals his key takeaway from his first fight with the welterweight champion at UFC 251.
Masvidal is set to challenge Usman in their title rematch in the UFC 261 main event this weekend. The two battled for the first time at UFC 251, where ‘Gamebred’ stepped in on one week’s notice to replace Gilbert Burns, but lost a one-sided unanimous decision.
Key Takeaway
Although he came up short the first time around, Masvidal learned an important thing about Usman. Speaking on the UFC 261 Countdown (as transcribed by BJPenn.com), the Miami native said that the champion is one of the ‘softest’ hitters he has ever faced.
“I definitely learned things in the first fight that I learned in the rematch. The first thing being, he hits, not hard at all. He’s one of the softest hitters I’ve ever been in front of, period,” Masvidal said. “God didn’t bless him with that manliness where he can hurt another man with his fists. It must suck to live that. The game in both of us, mine is way better, in game, I mean the ability to fight through pain and fatigue. This guy is not a mean person.”
Cormier on Usman vs Masvidal 2
In their first meeting, Masvidal had less than a week to prepare for arguably his toughest matchup in the division. The 36 year old claims that the outcome will be different this time around however, as he has had a six week training camp.
Speaking on his DC & Helwani show on ESPN, Cormier also said that he expects a different fight this time around, and believes if anybody has the ability to dethrone Usman, it’s Masvidal.
“I think that we’re gonna see a much better fight between these two,” Cormier stated. “Is Jorge good enough to close the gap? I don’t know. It’s a tall hill to climb, man. Usman is as good as they come and Masvidal is going to have to fight the absolute perfect fight in order to beat him. But if anybody has that ability, it’s Jorge Masvidal.”
According to the average odds listed on Sports Betting Dime, Usman is a heavy -398 favourite in the rematch with Masvidal, who goes into the fight as a +306 underdog.
Breaking down the method-of-victory props, Usman by decision (-123) is the odds-on favourite. While Masvidal to win by decision (+1250) is the longest shot on the board.
Either fighter to win by stoppage would pay a solid return. Usman by stoppage is between +225 and +230, while Masvidal is around +400 to get the finish.
Do you think Jorge Masvidal will beat Kamaru Usman in the UFC 261 main event?
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