Kamaru Usman opened as favourite for clash against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261

Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman opened as a sizable favourite for his clash against Jorge Masvidal booked for UFC 261 on March 26.

Gamebred has low chances of taking a revenge in a rematch

The athletes met inside the octagon for the first time in July 2020. Usman dominated throughout the whole bout: he outnumbered Jorge’s significant shots almost 3 to 1 and controlled his rival on the canvas. As a result, The Nigerian Nightmare clearly took 4 of 5 rounds and won by unanimous decision. Given the result of the first contest, Masvidal is considered a heavy underdog. Jorge is priced 151/50 on Parimatch. Kamaru, on the other hand, is a 27/100 favourite.

Nevertheless, many UFC fans predict Jorge’s win in a rematch. In July last year, Gamebred accepted the contest on less than a week’s notice after Gilbert Burns had tested positive for COVID-19. Consequently, he had too little time to prepare for the clash. Masvidal claims that with a full training camp he will defeat Kamaru.

The champion’s main forte lies in wrestling. Thus, the result of the contest will mostly depend on Jorge’s ability to deny attempts to bring the fight to the ground. Masvidal’s defence is solid – 77%; however, in the previous clash Usman performed 5 of 16 takedowns, which was enough to secure victory.

The Nigerian defended the title for the third time against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 in February 2021. He is currently ranked third after Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones in the UFC P4P rating. Jorge has not stepped inside the octagon since dropping a decision to Kamaru, but he still takes fourth place at welterweight.