ufc 251

Okamoto: It’s a bummer. No other way to say it. Masvidal and Usman had heat. It’s the title fight we thought we were getting all year. I love Masvidal’s story. He has been hiding in plain sight his entire career, and then he caught fire in 2019. I want to see the end of that story. The Darren Till knockout, Ben Askren highlight, BMF title … does it all lead to a UFC championship? Feels like the story isn’t finished. Holdouts are a part of professional sports. Masvidal is not the first pro athlete to hold out for a better contract, nor will he be the last. I hope we see him fight for a title, but I don’t know what his future holds. The UFC 251 Live just showed it was willing to move on from him once. And after this fight between Usman and Burns, guys such as Colby Covington and Leon Edwards will be waiting to take the next shot. I’m apprehensive about Masvidal’s future, to be honest. I hope they’re able to work it out.

Wagenheim: I’d be upset about the absence of Masvidal if the UFC were shoving him aside and feeding us another bogus championship fight. (We’re already getting one of those with Yan vs. two-losses-in-a-row, 0-1-at-bantamweight Aldo.) But Burns is a legit 170-pound challenger, as Edwards would have been if he had accepted the title shot. So the show goes on. As for Masvidal, his is a cautionary tale, one that has been told before and will continue to be reprised until fighters learn to act in their self-interest. I’m not even talking about them organizing. We’ve seen those efforts run out of steam again and again, so maybe a fighter association is simply not to be. But why do athletes let their managers negotiate long-term contracts without every nuance covered in writing?

 

Helwani: I don’t mean to be a downer, but it’s a real bummer. Usman vs. Masvidal was the fight to make, plain and simple. It was the fight to make the moment Usman walked out of UFC 251 Live as the reigning, defending welterweight champion in December. Then they had their Super Bowl run-in, and it got even more interesting. And, you’ll recall, Dana White told the media during Super Bowl week that this fight was going to happen in July. And now it’s not. Of course, a lot has happened since then, but still. This card would be so much more intriguing if that were the main event. And I hope this doesn’t come across like I am disrespecting Gilbert Burns. I’m really not. I have a ton of respect for the fighter he has become and for what Burns has done this year. But there are a bunch of people he could fight next. The Masvidal story is more pressing. This was the culmination of 18 years in the game — from the backyards of Miami to the desert of Abu Dhabi, sprinkled with some real bad blood. I’m sure Usman vs. Burns will be fun and entertaining, but I’m not over Masvidal’s removal from this card just yet. I wish they could have come to terms on a deal that made sense for all and we got the fight we were promised months ago.

Murphy: Masvidal has been the no-brainer booking for Usman since their verbal sparring session at Super Bowl Radio Row. The confrontation made UFC public relations seethe and its marketing team salivate. Usman-Masvidal was the biggest draw at 170 pounds by a country mile, which is saying something in a division that deep.

That’s not a knock against Burns, either; he is undeniably deserving of his shot at the belt. Given the recency of his dominant win over former champ Tyron Woodley, Burns could easily have been labelled the No. 1 contender and challenged the Usman-Masvidal winner late this year.

The effect on Masvidal’s future can still be minimized. Should he land opposite the Usman-Burns winner as next in line or atop the marquee against Conor McGregor, luring the Irishman out of an abrupt third retirement, the UFC 251 miss can be redeemed. I think this ultimately ends well for Masvidal.

UFC president Dana White began touting a welterweight title bout between champion Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal as far back as January, when a heated exchange between the fighters during Super Bowl week lit a marketing fuse that was expected to detonate a blockbuster main event on July 11.

But a lot has happened since the heat for that fight started to build, including the world-changing due to the coronavirus pandemic. The International Fight Week card on July 11 has turned into the first card on Fight Island, also known as Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

And while Usman will indeed be defending his belt, it won’t be against Masvidal, who has been waging a passionate battle against the UFC on social media for fighter pay after his negotiations for the Usman bout fell apart. Instead, Gilbert Burns has stepped into the challenger’s role for UFC 251.

Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event features sizzling heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov, who both have won seven of their past eight fights. In the co-main event, featherweights Josh Emmett (15-2) and Shane Burgos (13-1) are set to square off.

UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov
• Saturday, Las Vegas
• Prelims: ESPN/ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET
• Main card: ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET

Subscribe to ESPN+ to get exclusive live UFC events, weigh-ins and more; Ariel and the Bad Guy; Dana White’s Contender Series; and more exclusive MMA content.

So what now for Masvidal, the UFC’s 2019 fighter of the year who hasn’t fought since beating Nate Diaz for the mythical BMF title on Nov. 2?

And how does UFC 251 live look without him? There will be two title bouts other than the main event, including Alexander Volkanovski defending the featherweight championship against Max Holloway, and Petr Yan facing Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight belt.

ESPN’s expert panel of Ariel Helwani, Phil Murphy, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim addresses Masvidal’s situation, the reality of Fight Island, the UFC 251 title fights and more.

Jorge Masvidal has confirmed UFC officials made a final attempt to have him challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title at UFC 251 before shifting gears to Gilbert Burns.

Masvidal (35-13 MMA, 12-6 UFC) and UFC brass, particularly company president Dana White, have been engaged in something of a feud in recent weeks stemming from the attempt to book the anticipated championship bout with Usman.

The talks eventually fell apart, with Masvidal claiming he was offered less money than he made for his November win over Nate Diaz at UFC 244 to challenge Usman. He’s since vocalized his opinion on how the UFC unfairly treats fighters, both in terms of revenue and contract negotiations. White has countered by pointing to Masvidal’s existing deal, and how it’s on “Gamebred” to honour the terms.

Just before Burns signed on to take Masvidal’s place in the July 11 title fight in Abu Dhabi, the UFC reached out in a final attempt to get a deal done. ESPN reported that the offer was for the same money Masvidal made for the bout with Diaz, but at that point, the fighter’s discontent reached a point where he wasn’t satisfied.

Welterweight star Jorge Masvidal has claimed Dana White made a late-night offer to him for the headline bout at UFC 251.

The UFC supremo, according to the popular fighter, handed Masvidal the last-gasp ultimatum in an attempt to secure the bout with Kamaru Usman at next month’s spectacle in Abu Dhabi.

But Masvidal opted out amid his war over wages with the UFC and Gilbert Burns has instead taken his place. Masvidal was expected to take on welterweight champion Usman earlier this year, but the coronavirus pandemic has severely disrupted the sport’s calendar. And during the time away, the 35-year-old has become embroiled in a pay dispute.

The fortnight-long battle centres around Masvidal having been unwilling to accept less money for next month’s grandstand bout than he made from his win over Nate Diaz at UFC 244 in November.

And now Masvidal has taken to social media to defend his decision.

He wrote: ‘I feel bad for Dana. He is just a promoter but he isn’t doing the deals with us.

‘I already explained why I signed a new deal. It’s either take it or leave it and not get paid. I would’ve signed another deal if it was done in good faith.

‘He called me the night before he wants to announce and tells me to take or it leaves it. That’s not negotiating, that’s strong-arming.’

White has fired back in response and insisted that Masvidal should instead honour the terms of his eight-fight deal.

But with relations between the pair remaining soured, in-form Brazilian Burns will top the card at UFC 251.

The showpiece will feature three world title bouts, and Usman will hope to defend his welterweight title on Fight Island on July 11.