JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ā When UFC President Dana White brought his mixed martial arts behemoth to Florida last May for a closed-door event, he promised a return trip once the state fully reopened.
He plans to make good on that statement Saturday night.
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White will put on UFC 261 in front of a sellout crowd (15,000-plus) in Jacksonville that wonāt be socially distant and probably mostly unmasked.
āThereās been a lot of monumental moments in my career and this is one of them,ā White said.
UFC 261 is being touted as the first full-capacity sporting event held indoors in more than a year. The card features three title fights, highlighted by a rematch between reigning welterweight champion Kamaru āNigerian Nightmareā Usman (18-1) and Jorge āKing of Miamiā Masvidal (35-14). Usman has won 17 consecutive fights, a winning streak that spans nearly eight years.
The 33-year-old Usman beat Masvidal in July, winning a unanimous decision at UFC 251 at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. Masvidal stepped in on six daysā notice, flying halfway around the world to fill in for No. 1 title contender Gilbert Burns after Burns tested positive for COVID-19.
Masvidal held his own and went five rounds against the champ, whose strategy including stomping on Masvidalās feet every time they were locked up.
Despite being a considerable underdog at plus-330 in the rematch, Masvidal is sure to have the crowd behind him. Hundreds showed up at the pre-fight news conference to root for the 36-year-old Miami native, sometimes even interrupting questions and answers, and then waited in a long line to get a socially distant picture with the affable fighter.
āThey donāt cheer for me because Iām so good looking or the food that I eat or nothing,ā he said. āThatās not why they cheer for me. They cheer for me because I give everybody their hard-earned money. I come in here and perform and bring the violence that they crave. Thatās the only reason why I got all those fans behind me.ā
That started an entertaining back-and-forth between the two.
Usman: āBut the fans canāt fight for you.ā
Masvidal: āI donāt need nobody. Iāll whoop your (butt) all by myself.ā
Usman: āYou said that last time. What happened?ā
Masvidal: āYou know what happened? You rubbed feet with me. I thought you wanted to fight. You rubbed your feet on mine pretty well. Youāre pretty good at rubbing my feet, bro.ā
Usman: āReally? Your face didnāt say that.ā
Masvidal: āI didnāt get the broken nose; you did.ā
Usman: āI came into the fight with a broken nose.ā
Masvidal: āOK, cool. Got it. I want to see what the next list is.ā
Usman: āAll right, all right. Letās just be honest here. Youāve got 14 losses in your career, seven in the UFC. Youāre 3-3 in your last six. You are sitting there today because I chose you. Iām coming around the track and youāre the first guy Iām about to lap. Period.ā
Masvidal: āDonāt lose to this guy. When you figure it out and we stop on that rubbing-foot technique, youāre going to be in for a long one, man. Iām going to bust your face up and break more bones than last time.ā
The other title bouts include defending champion Zhang Weili (21-1) of China against Rose Namajunas (10-4) of the United States for the womenās strawweight belt, and reigning champ Kyrgyzstanās Valentina Shevchenko (20-3) against Brazilās Jessica Andrade (21-8) for the womenās flyweight belt.
It will be the first time the UFC fights in front of fans in the United States in more than a year. There was a limited crowd for the last event at Fight Island in January.
White already has sellouts for UFC 262 in Houston next month and UFC 264 in Las Vegas in July.
āIām not going to do 20, 30, 60% (capacity)," he said. āIf we can go to a place that we can sell out the arena, weāll be there. If weāve got to keep coming to Florida every weekend, weāll do that, too.ā
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a reopening plan last year that allowed large sporting events to resume in late September, although reduced capacity and limited social distancing were recommended. But until UFCās return, no one had allowed full capacity indoors.
UFC 261 sold out in minutes, and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry allowed Duval Countyās mask mandate to expire last month.
Although UFC is encouraging the use of face coverings and even providing them for free at the event, they are unlikely to be largely in use.
āWe want people to be able to come and make decisions for themselves about what they want to attend and not want to attend,ā DeSantis said. āSo this is going to be the first full-throttle arena sporting event since COVID hit, indoor, anywhere in the United States. And I think itās fitting. ā¦
āThereās a lot of stuff that comes flying at you, particularly from media, social media, all this stuff, and some people donāt like to handle that. Dana White goes right into the teeth of that and says, āIām going to do whatās right. Iām going to stand my ground. Iām going to hold the line.ā I think UFC is better with his courage and quite frankly this event is good for Florida.ā
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