UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman put a stamp on his rivalry with Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night, dropping Masvidal with a crushing right hand and following up on the ground for a knockout victory at 1 minute, 2 seconds of the second round in the main event of UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Florida.
With his 14th straight UFC victory, Usman defended his 170-pound title for the fourth time. It was the first time the famously durable Masvidal had been finished by KO/TKO since 2008.
Two other championship fights took place Saturday night for UFC 261. First, Rose Namajunas knocked out champ Zhang Weili with a left head kick just 1:18 into the opening round to win strawweight gold for the second time in 4 years.
Then, UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina “The Bullet” Shevchenko dominated Jessica Andrade with her wrestling and then finished in violent fashion with elbows on the ground. The result was a TKO victory for Shevchenko at 3 minutes, 19 seconds of the second round, to successfully defend her title for the 5th time.