An exciting and decisive fight for the welterweight title was the main attraction of UFC 258 on Saturday at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. Kamaru Usman (18-1) moved into second place with the most consecutive victories (13) in UFC history after making the third defense of his 170-pound title in a technical knockout in the third round of former teammate Gilbert Burns ( 19-4).
Let’s take a closer look at the bigger findings of the pay-per-view card in general, after a resounding victory for one of the best pounds for pounds in the sport.
1. Put (a lot) more respect in the name of Kamaru Usman
Let’s face it, the likely exit of undefeated welterweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov puts an interesting twist on the current P4P discussion in the UFC. Yes, former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been at the top of the list for almost a decade, but his recent struggles have shown that the competition is slowly catching up with him. So, along with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Usman used the conclusive nature of his technical knockout against such a dangerous opponent in Burns to launch into the conversation about the best fighter in the world.
Usman has been extremely dominant since his UFC debut in 2015, but he did so largely with his wrestling when he entered Saturday, having covered the distance in nine of his last 11 fights. But the way Usman used a strong jab to hit his right hand and eventually submit Burns shows how the 33-year-old champion continues to evolve rapidly. Add the fact that he took Burns’ best punch in round 1 and only left his feet for a split second – Usman can no longer be referred to as boring or one-dimensional. It’s time to start referring to Usman what he really is: possibly the best and most dominant fighter in the sport today.
2. Trevor Wittman is really good at polishing diamonds
Giving too much credit to a trainer instead of a fighter for his improvement can be a precarious move, but Wittman continues to prove his methods of genius with each elite fighter with whom he lines up. After helping Rose Namajunas and Justin Gaethje make the final leap into their championship form, Wittman is clearly having an equally big effect on Usman in just his second stage together.
Along with Usman’s aforementioned jab, which he used as the main Georges St-Pierre as the main weapon, “The Nigerian Nightmare” showed greater comfort in changing positions and giving Burns feet unexpected looks. Usman was already a dominant champion when he left Sanford MMA in Florida to join forces with Wittman, but it is clear that their working relationship did wonders for Usman’s constant evolution. The fact that he can be so dominant and just get better remains a scary proposition for the rest of the sport, and it continues to show just how valuable a Wittman mentor remains.
3. It may be time for Maycee Barber to slow down
This does not mean that Team Barber needs to panic. But the polarizing 22-year-old prospect, who is quickly running out of time on his goal of breaking Jon Jones’ record as the youngest UFC champion, has now experienced defeat for the second time in a row against Alexa Grasso. Barber, as she showed throughout her rally in the final round, still has an attractive mix of power and explosiveness that initially helped her make her name. But the last two fights also exposed how much she still has to work from the point of view of feet, technique and game planning to reach the title level.
Grasso had the answer to stifle or stifle Barber’s forward attack on almost every corner at the start of the race, and showed an improved ability to grab to keep her off the mat. Being young and daring is fun, but nothing replaces the experience. For the second fight in a row, Barber received the kind of valuable instruction that often comes only with defeat. It will probably take longer than she would like for it to actually become a legitimate threat to the title. Barber has the tools to get there, but she just needs more refinement.
4. Kelvin Gastelum reminded critics of his pedigree
Very few fighters without the name Yoel Romero can maintain their elite status within MMA, despite losing three fights after losing four out of five in total. But Gastelum, 29, unpredictable as it may be, only seems to lose to the ranking fighters. This gap in the class was evident in Gastelum’s convincing decision to win over Ian Heinisch as the southpaw relied more on his wrestling than his left hand rocket to return to the victory column.
Gastelum said he entered the octagon fighting for his job. Although his victory was much more laborious than spectacular, it was necessary for him to put the past aside and continue on a path where his flashes of brilliance on the path became more of a consistency than an aberration. Gastelum probably earned him a big name against which he will return with the victory, and he may not be as far from a title fight due to the value of his name as critics may think, as long as he can continue to collect victories.
5. To screw with the betting odds
Arriving after winning just one of his last four matches, middleweight Anthony Hernandez came in as a big underdog in betting against undefeated Brazilian submission specialist Rodolfo Viera. What if you wanted Hernandez to win via submission? Talk about a long shot at 30-1. Few could imagine the first wild round that would happen next, when Viera fought Hernandez and caught his back with ease in the first 30 seconds, but was unable to beat. The effort he put into trying to do so surprisingly left the sculpted Viera an easy target for attacks, as it became clear at the end of the round that he was exhausted.
The giant wobble at the time was dramatic, as Viera was lucky to make it to Round 2 and was unable to revive herself after the second verse started. Hernandez got together to do what seemed impossible: to finish Viera via kata gatame strangulation to complete a big turnaround, which reminds us that the stakes are there as a guide, but far from the gospel in this constantly unpredictable sport.