It’s one day out from UFC 251, notable for being the UFC’s first numbered event at Fight Island, and the predictions are starting to roll in for the headline fight of Kamaru Usman versus Jorge Masvidal.
The fight is for the welterweight belt and was originally set to involve Usman and challenger Gilbert Burns. But things changed when Burns came down with coronavirus. At first, it looked like no welterweight title fight was going to happen at all. Then, it was switched to Masvidal versus Usman, which is the matchup that we have coming up right now.
Despite being out of the fight, though, Burns has his own ideas about who will win.
Did Burns pick Usman or Masvidal in the main event?
Burns spoke to TMZ and in his prediction, he had Usman winning and defending his belt.
“I see Kamaru dominating, that’s what I see. I think a lot of people get a big expectation in this matchup, but it can only go two ways, or Masvidal can catch him and knock him out inside two rounds. But the way I see the fight going is Kamaru dominating,” he stated.
Before his TKO victory against Colby Covington for his first title defense, Usman’s last four victories came by unanimous decision. He’s no strangers to fights that have been accused of being boring, and that’s the kind of fight that Burns believes this one will be.
“Even a boring fight, I’d say, Kamaru takes him down and smashes him on the cage. I don’t want that as a fan, but I believe it’s gonna be a boring fight, Kamaru controlling every aspect of the fight,” Burns stated.
Burns is currently the number one contender, so it will sting a bit more than normal for him to miss out on this fight because of pulling out late. He’s still, however, in a position to fight for the title in the future – one can hope that by then, the UFC is returning to normal operations and no longer has to fear the effects of a pandemic.