UFC 261 is in the books, with three title fights and a packed arena full of (maskless) fans. I doubt this decision will be good for people’s healths, but for better or worse, it surely was good for creating that pre-pandemic atmosphere, and good for the UFC’s checkbooks.
As for the actual fights, the entire main card was very entertaining and filled with insane finishes, but it also included a pretty rare but also weird and gruesome shin break. One title changed hands in spectacular fashion, while the other two champions proved their dominance in the division with equally impressive stoppage finishes.
Here’s a quick twitter thread with a brief recap and analysis of the event, that’s fitting for people’s social media era attention spans:
SMITH LEG KICK TKOs CRUTE
PROS: One hard kick and the leg was dead. Crute showed heart too, but that was nasty.
CONS: None! Fans didn’t like that, but it was a very good stoppage. https://t.co/TzgL7OFlcr
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 25, 2021
WEIDMAN GOT SILVA’D
CONS: No pros about this. That was such a gruesome injury, and it’s crazy that this happened now to Weidman of all people. Also… remember when people wanted to ban calf kicks like a month ago? https://t.co/jzEkwuDNSw
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 25, 2021
SHVECHENKO CRUCIFIX TKOs ANDRADE
CONS: Not Valentina’s fault, but she’s so far ahead of her competition, so who’s next?
PROS: I think Valentina wanted to prove a point, and just decided to completely dominate on the ground this time around. https://t.co/q5BhvAw94w
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 25, 2021
NAMAJUNAS HEADKICKS ZHANG
CONS: I wanted to see a long technical fight, but that was such a perfect kick
PROS: Zhang scored with inside leg kicks early, then misread and thought Rose would do the same. Head kick KO & now Rose is a 2-time champ with KOs over two killer strikers!
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 25, 2021
USMAN FLATTENS MASVIDAL
CONS: Masvidal admitted to working mostly on wrestling and didn’t respect his striking
PROS: Usman did what he promised. He looked sharp with basic — but effective — strikes early, until the same punch eventually put Masvidal out https://t.co/UgreQr0ESk
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 25, 2021
#UFC261 OVERALL
PROS: So many wild finishes! Huge day for the still underrated Coach Wittman.
CONS: Crute & Weidman’s injured legs. Rogan shouldn’t have interviewed Weili and concussed fighters. I could’ve gone a few more months w/o fans. How much covid will spread from this?
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) April 25, 2021
And that’s about it. For more social media musings, follow me on twitter over at @antontabuena, and of course you should do that for Bloody Elbow’s official twitter account as well.
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