It seems that the trash talk has commenced as Gamebred posted via his Twitter account regarding the betting odds for Usman goes for his crotch within 2 mins. Masvidal will have a second chance for the title on UFC 261.
Over/under usman goes for my crotch within 2 min ? #andnew
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) March 16, 2021
Masvidal thinks that he lost the first fight due to being a short notice replacement and that with a full camp he could beat Usman. As for Usman, he said that he wants to shut Masvidal up saying that a full camp could beat him. Usman later revealed that he had suffered a broken prior to his fight against Masvidal.
In their first encounter, Masvidal to take the wrestling much better than expected. He defended some of the takedowns and was fast in the early rounds. Usman used his constant pressure to make Masvidal tired for the later rounds which worked. Masvidal thinks that due to late notice, his body conditioning was not in top shape.
Although on their post fight interview, Masvidal said that he needed to get back on the winning column before getting another shot for the title. In the end, it was Usman who just fought and beat Gilbert Burns.
Usman also showed new weapons in his game, mainly the deadly jab. According to his new coach, Trevor Wittman, he already had a great jab but was not aware of it. It paid dividends as Usman’s jab alone knocked Burns down. Now Usman has great striking with his high level wrestling combined, he just looks like an unbeatable champion.
Some critics also think that Masvidal does not deserve to fight for the title since he is coming of a loss to the same fighter. You cannot blame Masvidal for taking the fight since Usman was the one who called out for the rematch, probably due to their PPV success in their first match.
Fans would think that Masvidal’s only way to win would be to knock Usman out. In terms of pure striking, Masvidal may still have the upper hand. He is just fast and has been striking since his rise.
The question would be whether he can stuff the takedown and land the knockout strike. Masvidal already defied a lot of odds like knocking out Darren Till and Ben Askren, he could certainly do it again.
As for the betting odds, Usman is coming in as a heavy favorite. Usman is currently a -350 favorite but some expect it will go even higher come fight night.
