Tag: UFC 258

Twitter reacts to Kamaru Usman’s thrilling title defense against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258

See the top Twitter reactions to Kamaru Usman’s title defense over Gilbert Burns in the UFC 258 main event.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]’s remarkable run inside the octagon continued on Saturday when he defended his title against [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] in the UFC 258 main event.

Usman (18-1 MMA, 13-0 UFC) recorded a third consecutive defense of his welterweight title when he earned a third-round TKO victory over Burns (19-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in the headlining bout, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. With the win, he joined Anderson Silva as the only fighters in company history to start their UFC tenure with 13 straight wins.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Usman’s title defense against Burns at UFC 258.

UFC 258 results: Alexa Grasso sharp, holds off Maycee Barber for unanimous decision win

Alexa Grasso’s ascent up the women’s flyweight rankings will continue after UFC 258.

[autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag]’s ascent up the women’s flyweight rankings will continue after UFC 258.

In the co-main event, Grasso (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) picked apart [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] en route to a unanimous decision victory by 29-28 scores from all three judges.

The women’s flyweight bout took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

The opening round was closely contested in the clinch and on the feet. Grasso was the calmer and more composed of the two fighters as she stayed on the outside, controlled the clinch, and landed the better shots in the pocket when the two exchanged.

Grasso’s best moment came in Round 2 when she rocked Barber (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) with a powerful left hand. Barber was stunned but avoided any further onslaught. Midway through the round, Barber turned the tables when she landed a combination and took Grasso down. However, Grasso reversed position and took Barber’s back. The round ended as Grasso sought a rear-naked choke.

In Round 3, Barber turned up the volume. After a brief takedown, Barber slung punches at Grasso, who tried to remain calm on the retreat. Fighting with a sense of urgency, Barber gunned for the finish, but she’d never find it.

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Grasso, 27, turns a win into a winning streak and remains undefeated in the UFC at flyweight. In August, Grasso defeated Ji Yeon Kim by unanimous decision. She has now won three of her most recent four fights.

Barber, 22, drops her second straight fight following an upset loss to former UFC women’s flyweight title challenger Roxanne Modafferi in January 2020. In the loss, Barber tore her ACL – an injury that required surgery and kept her out for more than a year.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 258 results include:

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UFC 258 results: Kamaru Usman shakes off slow start, demolishes Gilbert Burns

Kamaru Usman topped a welterweight record held by the legendary Georges St-Pierre with his victory.

At the outset of the UFC 258 main event, it appeared UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] finally was in for a real fight when former training partner [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] got off to a fast start.

But Usman (18-1 MMA, 13-0 UFC) regained his composure and took over the fight and proved why he’s on his way to becoming the dominant champion the 170-pound weight class hasn’t had since Georges St-Pierre relinquished the belt more than seven years ago.

Usman used pinpoint, lethal striking to take over in the second round before finishing him in the third and retained his title with a TKO at the 0:34 mark of the round.

“This was a very, very tough one because of the whole gym situation,” Usman said. “You cannot disrespect what Burns has done. We started together and he showed it tonight.”

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With the win, Usman now has won 17 straight fights, including all 13 of his UFC bouts, which eclipsed St-Pierre’s record winning streak in the division. He also tied Khabib Nurmagomedov for most consecutive wins to start his UFC career, second only to Anderson Silva (16).

Burns (19-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) got off to a fast start andn scored with big overhand rights out of the gate – one of which dropped Usman. The champ dropped Burns with a head kick, and then stayed standing and spent the next minute-plus peppering the downed Burns with kicks.

The rest of the first round was competitive, but it was clear Usman was picking up steam. In the second round, Usman’s nasty jabs landed over and over, slowly wearing Burns down and sapping his will.

Burns was in danger late in the round, but covered up and made it to the horn. But Usman wasted little time finish the job in the third, dropping him again and landing big bombs until referee Herb Dean waved things off.

“I’m the varsity guy,” Usman said. “My fight IQ is different.”

With his 10th career finish, Usman now has successfully defended his title three times. Burns had a six-fight winning streak snapped.

Complete UFC 258 results:

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Twitter reacts to Alexa Grasso’s victory over Maycee Barber at UFC 258

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Alexa Grasso’s victory over Maycee Barber at UFC 258.

[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag]’s quick rise in MMA took another hit on Saturday when “The Future” suffered a second consecutive loss in her UFC 258 fight with [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag].

Grasso (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) put together one of the finest performance of her career in outpointing Barber (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) over the course of their three-round strawweight matchup to win a unanimous decision. Her victory at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas gave Grasso back-to-back octagon triumphs for the first time.

See the top Twitter reactions to Grasso’s victory against Barber in the UFC 258 co-main event.

UFC 258 results: Kelvin Gastelum grinds out win over Ian Heinisch, snaps losing streak

Kelvin Gastelum looked sharp as he made a much-needed return to the win column.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty, and that was good enough to get [autotag]Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag] back in the win column Saturday night.

The former interim middleweight title challenger went back to basics and earned himself a main-card victory over [autotag]Ian Heinisch[/autotag] at UFC 258. The judges’ scores at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas were  30-27, 30-27, and 29028, as Gastelum (17-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) snapped a three-fight losing streak.

“Man it’s been three years since my last win,” Gastelum said in his post-fight interview. “And coming back it’s not easy after I fell and I fell again.”

Heinisch (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) was in the biggest spot of his UFC career and was competitive in the opening round. Twice Heinisch went for Kimuras in the first five minutes. Gastelum was able to get out of danger, though, and then implemented his wrestling game.

Gastelum scored four takedowns over the course of the first two rounds, including a nifty bit of work in turning an attempted Heinisch flying knee into a slam. On several other occasions, Gastelum body locked in the standup and kept Heinisch from generating any offense.

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Heinisch seemed to know that he was down two rounds going into the third, and he turned up the heat. He turned a Gastelum takedown into a submission attempt on the mat and later scored a takedown in the round’s final minute. But Gastelum, who added two more takedowns in the final round for a total career high of six, was never seriously threatened as he wound down the clock and cinched his victory.

The win was the seventh career decision for the “TUF 17” champion. Heinisch has now dropped three of his past four.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 258 results:

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UFC 258 video: Julian Marquez submits Maki Pitolo to cap wild PPV opener

The pay-per-view portion of UFC 258 started with a bang as Julian Marquez got the nod.

There’s a line of thought in the mixed martial arts world that states it’s always the fight cards that don’t look like much on paper that end up delivering the best action.

[autotag]Julian Marquez[/autotag] and [autotag]Maki Pitolo[/autotag] did their part to make this a reality for UFC 258 on Saturday night. The middleweight bout was bumped up to the main card in the wake of several fight fallouts, and it kicked off the pay-per-view in grand style.

Pitolo (13-8 MMA, 1-4 UFC) arguably got the better end of the first two rounds, both of which were all action. Then the third round featured wild swings before Marquez (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who was fighting for the first time in more than two years, finished things at the 4:13 mark of the final frame.

“I know you guys were saying this guy’s done, this guy’s done, but guess what? This guy was not done,” Marquez said in his post-fight interview.

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After escaping Pitolo’s top position and getting back to his feet, Marquez landed a flurry of lefts and rights, then landed a brutal knee to the head in the clinch. Pitolo went for a desperation takedown, but Marquez easily switched position and landed a nifty anaconda choke for the tap, which you can see below (via Twitter):

Up-to-the-minute UFC 258 results:

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