UFC 251 Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns Fight card, rumors, date, Fight Island location

UFC 251 Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns Fight card, rumors, date, Fight Island location

A trio of title fights headlines a massive pay-per-view from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi

Fight Island is a reality, and the UFC is bringing a large pay-per-view to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with UFC 251 on July 11. The card is headlined by means of a trio of huge championship fights and lots of other large names are featured for the duration of the event.

In the principle event, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman takes on Gilbert Burns. Burns got the call after negotiations for Usman to battle Jorge Masvidal fell apart. Usman received the welterweight name by way of beating Tyron Woodley and successfully defended it with a fifth-spherical knockout of Colby Covington in a brutal warfare in December. Burns is riding a six-combat prevailing streak, consisting of returned-to-again Performance of the Night showings in wins over Demian Maia and Woodley.

In the co-fundamental event, Alexander Volkanovski will guard his featherweight name in opposition to Max Holloway. Holloway turned into on one among the maximum astounding runs in featherweight records whilst Volkanovski beat him at UFC 245 in December to win the title. Now, Holloway has the opportunity to win back the belt and retain to make his case the various division's all-time greats.

In the other title fight at the card, Jose Aldo will battle Petr Yan for the vacant bantamweight title. Aldo, the finest featherweight in history, moved to bantamweight at UFC 245 and misplaced a mildly controversial split choice to Marlon Moraes. After the fight, UFC president Dana White said Aldo would fight Henry Cejudo for the championship, however the fight became ultimately derailed with the aid of the coronavirus pandemic. Cejudo has considering the fact that retired and vacated the belt, main Aldo to face pinnacle contender Yan. The Russian is on a nine-combat triumphing streak, which includes six inside the UFC Octagon.

Plus, a pair of important women's fights spherical out the primary card. Top strawweight contenders Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas will ultimately meet for his or her rematch after being scheduled to combat at UFC 249 in April. Namajunas become compelled to withdraw when two circle of relatives participants died from COVID-19, in line with her manager. Kicking off the main card might be a women's flyweight scrap between Paige VanZant and Amanda Ribas. It is reportedly VanZant's final combat on her UFC contract.

Dana White announced the relaxation of the fight card on June 18, whole with 13 fights to fill out the prelims and early prelims.

Let's take a look at the introduced combat card for UFC 251.

UFC 251 fight card

Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Gilbert Burns -- Welterweight title

Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Max Holloway -- Featherweight title

Jose Aldo vs. Petr Yan -- Vacant bantamweight title

Rose Namajunas vs. Jéssica Andrade -- Women's strawweights

Paige VanZant vs. Amanda Ribas -- Women's flyweights

Volkan Oezdemir vs. Jiří Procházka -- Light heavyweights

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Muslim Salikhov -- Welterweights

Makwan Amirkhani vs. Dan Henry -- Featherweights

Leonardo Santos vs. Roman Bogatov -- Lightweights

Marcin Tybura vs. Alexander Romanov -- Heavyweights

Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Raulian Paiva -- Flyweights

Karol Rosa vs. Vanessa Melo -- Women's bantamweights

Martin Day vs. Davey Grant -- Bantamweights

UFC 251 info

Date: July 11

Location: Yas Island -- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Start time: 10 p.m. ET (Main card) 

How to watch: ESPN+ PPV

UFC 251 countdown

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