Kamaru Usman reveled in victory after knocking out Jorge Masvidal and defended the extra strikes landed on "Gamebred" following his savage knockdown and much more — Fightful has all the latest UFC 261 fallout following a crazy night of action.
Kamaru Usman defends extra strikes
Kamaru Usman has defended the extra blows landed to Jorge Masvidal in their UFC 261 main event and said he will continue to fight until the referee stops him. Usman dropped Masvidal with a crisp right hook and when asked by the media about the necessity of those strikes, "The Nigerian Nightmare" took a phrase out of Masvidal's playbook.
“Those were super necessary,” Usman said in the post-fight press conference at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (h/t SCMP). “There were extra shots? The ref didn’t pull me off, so I keep going until the ref pulls me off. I had to go out there and I definitely blessed him. He pushed me to come out here to do what I did.”
Dana White says Colby Covington is next for Kamaru Usman
Dana White has given the green light for Colby Covington to rematch Kamaru Usman following his win over Jorge Masvidal. White was speaking after UFC 261 and confirmed that "Chaos" would get his shot at redemption like Masvidal had. Covington was in attendance at UFC 261 and the UFC president admitted that this rematch is now the fight to make.
“The fight between him and Colby Covington is one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen. Those two stood in there toe to toe, blasting each until Colby went down with a broken jaw,” White said at the UFC 261 post-fight press conference (h/t MMA Weekly). “The clear cut guy right now [for Usman] is Colby. We’ll see how all these other things play out for the next contender, but there’s no doubt that Colby Covington is the next guy.”
Rose Namajunas explains pre-match comments about Zhang Weili, Weili releases statement
Rose Namajunas was euphoric post-fight after reclaiming her UFC strawweight title. "Thug" planted a beautiful left high-kick to Zhang Weili and after a brief flurry of punches on the ground, Namajunas was declared the victor. Post-fight Namajunas was speaking to Joe Rogan and attempted to explain her bizarre comments on Weili's nationality.
“All the stuff in the media was not my intent, to ever personally attack her. It’s just my history and my past and that’s it,” said Namajunas, whose family came to the US from Lithuania (h/t SCMP). “I love all people, all cultures and everybody in the world.”
Former champion Weili will regroup and look to reclaim her title back. The Chinese superstar took to Instagram to release a statement to her fans and her intent will be on a rematch.
Dana White gives an update on Chris Weidman following horrific leg injry
Chris Weidman suffered a horrific injury to his leg at UFC 261 vs. Uriah Hall after a leg kick went as wrong as it could go. Weidman landed the first and last strike of the contest and the groans of everyone in Jacksonville could be heard worldwide such was the injury. Weidman was involved in another famous leg break when Anderson Silva suffered a similar faith at UFC 168. Dana White spoke following UFC 261 and gave the following update on "The All American."
“Weidman is stable right now and will have surgery in the morning.” – White said (h/t BJPenn.com)
Hall was visibly distraught in the Octagon and when speaking to Joe Rogan showed nothing but respect and class for Weidman.
“I wanted to put on a performance but I feel so bad for him. I hope he’s OK, I wish his family well if they are watching. It’s the sucky part of this sport, it’s the hurt business. Believe me, they don’t see the fight outside the Octagon but I got nothing bad to say about him,” said “Prime Time” in the post-fight Octagon interview (h/t SCMP). “I got nothing but respect for Chris Weidman. He’s truly one of the best. It’s a crazy story, he was the first man I fought who defeated me. He introduced me to fear, I didn’t know what it was, I was scared of wrestling."
Valentina Shevchenko warns flyweights after UFC 261 domination
UFC flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko had an ominous message for anyone who dared challenge her next. Shevchenko dominated Jessica Andrade from the early stages and once she mounted her in a crucifix position in round two, the champion landed blow after blow until the referee seen enough and pulled her off. And the champ warned anyone who wants to fight her next to not waste their time.
“My opponents try to find a weakness, don’t waste your time, there is none,” the flyweight champion told Joe Rogan in her post-fight interview inside the Octagon at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday night, after a second-round TKO (h/t SCMP). “Here I am, anyone … everyone is asking to fight me … come get some.”
Dana White disputes claims about Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren PPV buys
Dana White has taken aim at Triller Fight Club and dismissed reports that the PPV featuring Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren reached nearly 2 million PPV buys. White was not complimentary of the product on offer and says that the whole thing seems fake, unlike the UFC that he has helped build.
“The numbers that you’re hearing that they did are full of sh-t. They’re full of sh-t,” White said during the UFC 261 post-fight presser (h/t Bloody Elbow). “They didn’t pull those kinds of numbers at all. Not even f—ng close. I don’t believe anything they say. That’s a f—ng circus. None of that’s real. You think any of that shit that’s going on over there is real? I built a real business here. A real sport. That’s a freakshow.”
Dillon Whyte: Francis Ngannou is Scared
Dillon Whyte has again expressed his interest in taking on UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in boxing and MMA. Whyte and Ngannou have been rumoured to be facing each other for months and Whyte's promoter, Eddie Hearn has expressed an interest in a two-fight agreement with Ngannou - where one fight takes place in boxing and one takes place in MMA. Hearn had tried to make the fight in the past and actually filmed a press conference with Whyte and Ngannou. The footage was never aired because the UFC's legal team got involved and shut it down. This hasn't stopped Whyte though in calling out Ngannou in either sport, especially as he has a kickboxing and MMA background.
"If Ngannou wants a fight tomorrow, I'll fight him tomorrow," Whyte told Sky Sports. "I want to make it fair. I know some other boxers want to fight an MMA guy. I believe I can beat him in both styles. I can beat him in MMA and in boxing. I don't think he's anything special, whichever they want. The guy is scared, so if doing MMA makes him feel better. If we have a fight in the cage first, he might take it, but if we offer him a boxing fight, then he might say, 'No, no, no.' If he wants it, he can get it."
Dana White praises Kamaru Usman after UFC 261
Dana White has defended the haters of Kamaru Usman and dismissed any suggestions that Usman is boring. "The Nigerian Nightmare" has always had to fight through the stigma that his wrestling-based offense is boring and some have used this against him as a criticism. The champ has finished nearly all of the top five in the UFC, with finished over Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns and now Jorge Masvidal. And White was quick to back up his champion.
“These people talk about him being boring,” White said (h/t MMA Junkie). “You’re an idiot. You’re an idiot if you think this guy is boring. He hasn’t been in a boring fight in a while. He changed after he gave that whole, ‘I only gave 30 percent tonight thing.’ He’s been a different human being ever since the (Rafael dos Anjos) fight.”
Dana White Claims McGregor/Poirier III Was Nearly Scrapped
Dana White has admitted that there was a very real chance that fans could have lost out on the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. Poirier and McGregor had exchanged messages about "The Notorious" seemingly not donating the money to "The Good Fight Foundation" as suggested before their UFC 257 fight which angered the Irishman as he claimed that he wanted to know where the donation would be going. White has admitted that their beef almost resulted in the fight being called off.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, there was a lot of chances that was gonna fall apart,” White said in an interview with TSN (h/t MMA News). “I saw some conspiracy theorists thinking that that was to help promote the fight. Absolutely none of that was done to help promote the fight. I can assure you of that. But we got it done.”
According to White, it wasn’t just "The Notorious" who was prepared to walk away from the fight before cooler heads ultimately prevailed.
“Both guys,” White said when asked if he had to talk McGregor back into the fight. “We had to go back and forth. Listen, man, we’ve been doing this for 20 years. This is what we do. We get it done.”
Fightful has all of your MMA needs covered. Follow us on Twitter for updates, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, lists, news updates, and predictions.