UFC welterweight: Kamaru Usman knocks out Masvidal

FLORIDA: Kamaru Usman scored a stunning second-round knockout to finish Jorge Masvidal and retain the undisputed UFC welterweight title at UFC 261 in Florida on Saturday night.

The bout, which took place in front of 15,000 fans in Jacksonville, was a rematch of their meeting at UFC 251, where Masvidal stepped in on six days' notice but lost out to Usman on the scorecards after five gruelling rounds.

American Masvidal, 36, said that he would fare better after a full training camp, while Nigerian Usman, 33, promised to deliver an even more decisive victory in the rematch to register his fourth successive title defence.

The pair engaged in a thrilling back-and-forth battle through round one, with both men enjoying success on the feet, while Usman scored a significant takedown midway through the round.

The bout exploded in round two when Usman connected with a huge straight right hand that sent Masvidal crashing to the canvas for a knockout victory.

Usman's win improved his record to 19-1 and extended his unbeaten run to 18 fights, including 14 straight victories in the UFC.

In the night's co-main event, Rose Namajunas reclaimed the UFC women's strawweight title with a spectacular first-round knockout of Chinese champion Zhang Weili.

The first title fight of the night saw women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko continue her dominance of the 125lb division with a second-round TKO finish of top contender and former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade.

Kyrgyzstan's Shevchenko, 33, finished Brazilian challenger Andrade, 31, with elbows from the crucifix position to register her fifth straight title defence in a fight she completely dominated from start to finish.

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman's hopes of a big win ended in just 17 seconds as he suffered a broken leg in his bout with Uriah Hall.

The bout ended immediately after the very first kick of the fight as Weidman threw a powerful leg kick, which was checked by Hall. Agencies

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