It had been over 13 months since we had last watched a mixed martial arts event with a full crowd. And while the sport continued apace – I’ve lost count of the great fights and memorable moments that have occurred since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – we had all grown a little too frightfully used to watching fighters crack each other’s skulls in front of absolutely no one in an empty UFC Apex, or Fight Island, or Mohegan Sun Arena.
Anyone who follows this knows that the UFC would jump on the first opportunity to run again in front of a packed arena. And we can cast judgment on it. It was stupid and reckless, the ambition of a man who has mocked the very idea of the pandemic since the whole thing started.
But goddamn, did it feel good to hear a crowd roar again. And when China’s Na Liang dropped opponent Ariane Carnelossi with the first punch of the first fight of the prelims, you could feel that after all this time, we were feeling a different energy.
UFC 261 was perhaps the single most anticipated card of the year, if not for the return of the crowd, then for the three title fights. It delivered on every ounce of that hype. The title fights gave us crowning performances from three of the greatest fighters in the world, ones we won’t soon forget.
First, women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko removed herself even further from the realms of mortals, dominating and TKOing perhaps her most dangerous challenger, Jessica Andrade, in the second round. Then, challenger Rose Namajunas caught strawweight champion Zhang Weili napping with a lightning bolt of a head kick in the opening minutes, becoming a two-time world champ.
But the greatest honors went to the man now being called the pound-for-pound king of the sport: welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who has completed his metamorphosis from a dominant, but relatively one-dimensional wrestler into one of MMA’s most feared knockout threats.
Jorge Masvidal entered Saturday night having lost by KO/TKO once in his 50-fight pro career: to Rodrigo Damm in 2008, in what was probably an early stoppage, and years before he became a true star. No one had ever really put his lights out. Usman spent the first round and change testing him, probing with the jab and the one-two, feeling out his timing and defense. Then, he came over the top with perhaps the single greatest punch ever thrown.
It was the perfect crowning moment for a man who has astounded with his improvement, even after reaching the very top of the MMA world. This knockout alone would have made the whole show worth it. But UFC 261 was astounding in that almost every single other fight, from the prelims to the main event, was memorable in some way or another.
It will be remembered as the night of Leg Violence: aside from Namajunas’ stunning head kick, you had Chris Weidman horrifically shattering his shin on a checked leg kick on the first move of his rematch with Uriah Hall, and Jimmy Crute‘s night ending early after an Anthony Smith kick left him unable to walk.
It will also be remembered as the night Na and Carnelossi sparked things off with a terrific scrap, followed directly by a Fight of the Night war between reckless Chinese bomb-thrower Qilengaori and Jeff Molina, who absolutely went to town on Qilengaori’s head and still couldn’t stop his relentless advance. There was a rare one-armed rear-naked choke by Randy Brown, an ultra-slick ankle lock from Brendan Allen, and there was stone-fisted Mongolian Danaa Batgerel, putting Kevin Natividad on dream street with one left hook.
So much action, so much drama, all in one night – all in this particular night, atI this particular time. I can think of very few MMA events that have ever matched this combination of violence, spectacle, energy and timing. It’s why we love this sport. We all just needed a little reminder of what it’s like at its very best.
The Big Fight 