UFC 251 results: Usman shuts down Masvidal, Volkanovski wins controversially

UFC 251 is now in the books and the full results are in after this weekend’s stacked pay-per-view card. The main event saw welterweight champion Kamaru Usman put his belt on the line against BMF champion Jorge Masvidal. Despite a lot of hype heading into the bout, Masvidal simply couldn’t get his game going, getting completely shut down by the champ. Five rounds of dominant clinch and ground positions eventually led to a clear-cut unanimous decision win.

“‘Gamebred’ is the biggest, baddest dude out there right now, and I had to switch gears and prepare for him on six days’ notice,” Usman said. “I had to make a mental shift. I trained for Gilbert. I had a completely different game plan. … ‘Gamebred’ is tough, and he showed it out there. He took a lot of big elbows, and he didn’t quit.”

The co-main event saw a featherweight title rematch as Alexander Volkanovski faced Max Holloway for the second time. Holloway started off strongly, winning the first two rounds. Volkanovski made adjustments later into the fight, but the fight was thoroughly competitive through and through. Volkanovski ended up winning a close, controversial split decision after five tough rounds – That event UFC president Dana White disputed.

“It was a tough one,” Volkanovski told media after the fight. “We expected him to make adjustments, he made good adjustments in the first two rounds. Then he did what we actually expected him too with the attacks. But his first two rounds were strong then we had to pick it up. Through the third round we picked it up. That third round was close, but we were confident we got that third round then obviously we took the fourth and fifth. Tight fight, but when the judges announced the score we thought we got the last three. Happy with the win. To win a rematch like that back to back, it says something. I’m happy to finish the chapter. On to the next.”

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The vacant bantamweight title was on the line as well, as Russian powerhouse Petr Yan faced former featherweight champion Jose Aldo. The bout was fairly evenly contested in the opening rounds, but Yan turned it on in the championship rounds. In the opening seconds of the fifth round Yan landed a heavy punch that sent Aldo crashing to the canvas, and after a lengthy stretch of ground and pound, the fight was over.

“I expected it to be a hard fight, but then he kicked my leg and it forced me to change my stance,” Yan said through a translator on the broadcast after the fight. “In the beginning, we wanted to put pressure on him, make him tired, and after the third round, put the pressure on. That’s exactly what happened.”

Additionally, Rose Namajunas edged out Jessica Andrade in their rematch, winning “Fight of the Night”. The full results for UFC 251 can be found below.

UFC 251 full results

Kamaru Usman def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo via TKO (strikes) – Round 5, 3:24
Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:21
Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:49
Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 3:15
Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Davey Grant def. Martin Day via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:38