It’s official. The main event of UFC 251, kicking off Fight Island this weekend in Abu Dhabi, is set. On six days’ notice, Jorge Masvidal hit championship weight, to challenge incumbent champ Kamaru Usman.
That development, during Friday morning’s official weigh-in on Yas Island, put to rest the biggest question mark ahead of the fight itself. How Masvidal will look with basically zero time to prepare is another matter, but “Gamebred” has already more than lived up to his name here.
Beyond that welterweight main event, two other title fights grace the UFC 251 card. Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt for the first time against Max Holloway, an instant rematch of their first meeting. And with the vacant bantamweight title up for grabs, Jose Aldo gets another shot at gold opposite Petr Yan.
For highlights from Friday’s official weigh-in, check below!
UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal
Main Card (PPV)
Welterweight: Kamaru Usman (c) (170) vs. Jorge Masvidal (170) – for the UFC welterweight title
Featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski (c) (145) vs. Max Holloway (145) – for the UFC featherweight title
Bantamweight: Petr Yan (135) vs. José Aldo (135) – for the vacant UFC bantamweight title
Women’s Strawweight: Jéssica Andrade (115) vs. Rose Namajunas (116)
Women’s Flyweight: Amanda Ribas (126) vs. Paige VanZant (126)
Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Light Heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir (205.5) vs. Jiří Procházka (205)
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (171) vs. Muslim Salikhov (171)
Featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani (146) vs. Danny Henry (146)
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos (156) vs. Roman Bogatov (155.5)
Early Preliminary Card (ESPN / UFC Fight Pass / ESPN+)
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (252) vs. Maxim Grishin (223)
Flyweight: Raulian Paiva (129)* vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (126)
Women’s Bantamweight: Karol Rosa (136) vs. Vanessa Melo (141)**
Bantamweight: Davey Grant (136) vs. Martin Day (136)
* Raulian Paiva missed weight by 3lbs for his flyweight bout
** Vanessa Melo missed weight by 5lbs for her bantamweight bout
