Jorge Masvidal is going to try his luck again against UFC welterweight king Kamaru Usman this coming Saturday. In the first meeting between these two fighters, Usman kept his belt by beating Masvidal in a dominant fashion. Masvidal, however, feels he’s in a much better form now than in the initial bout against Usman. Check out our preview of this fight below.
Usman is out to double down on his mastery of Masvidal. It can be remembered that he absolutely dominated the first meeting with Masvidal back in July of 2020. He then proceeded to defeat Gilbert Burns via knockout last February. Usman is clearly on a roll. In fact, he hasn’t lost since his 2013 submission loss at the hands of Jose Caceres. Going back to his first meeting with Masvidal, Usman landed more strikes (94-66) and repeatedly threw his opponent on the ground while not allowing himself to be taken to the mat. Usman took down Masvial five times. The way he pushed Masvidal and basically did whatever he wanted in that fight showed that he’s in a higher class than the challenger. That being said, Usman still has to be careful. Having a longer reach (two inches) could help him stave off Masvidal’s aggressive spurts while landing counters of his own. Usman has what it takes to silence Masvidal again
As a +300 underdog, Masvidal knows it’s not going to be easy for him when he takes on Usman again. But Masvidal is one confident fighter, who’s not going to back down. As cliche as that sounds, Masvidal is truly a warrior when he’s inside the Octagon. Didn’t he fight Usman on just short notice? This time around, Masvidal has the benefit of longer preparation and a much-focused game plan against Usman. He also has the power to keep him in the fight from start to finish. It takes just a series of blows for Masvidal to get the job done. He has 16 knockout wins against just a single knockout loss. Masvidal is averaging 4.2 significant strikes landed per minute with a 54.76 significant strikes accuracy percentage. If he could lure Usman to fight him standing up, he’ll have a shot at scoring an upset, at least via decision
