For the first time since the corona pandemic broke out last year, an indoor arena in the USA was sold out last night, Swedish time.
In the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena - Jacksonville, Florida - the more than 15,000 people in the stands saw MMA star Kamaru Usman defend his UFC belt in welterweight.
The fight against Jorge Masvidal, who is from Florida, was over a minute and two seconds into the second round.
Usman hit with a rock-hard right that lowered the 36-year-old, and the referee broke when Masvidal could not defend himself.
Masvidal's first knockout loss since 2008.
- I'm the planet's best fighter in all weight classes.
Jorge, you lifted me and made me tear.
I'm still getting better, and there are no limits to how good I can become, says Kamaru Usman after the fight.
Second longest suite
This was Usman's and Masvidal's second meeting in the octagon.
This summer on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, corona-stricken challenger Gilbert Burns was replaced by Masvidal with six days' notice.
That time, Usman won after the verdict.
33-year-old Nigerian Usman now has fourteen straight wins in the UFC, the second best suite of all time after Anderson Silva at 16.
At the same gala, UFC 261, two more title fights were decided. Valentina Shevchenko, Kyrgyzstan, defended her belt in flyweight after a win against Brazilian Jéssica Andrade. And in the welterweight division, the American Rose Namajuna is once again the UFC champion, she defeated the Chinese Zhang Weili, who came to the octagon as champion, via knockout with a main kick just over a minute into the first round.