…survives early scare, finishes opponent with barrage of punches in the main event
Kamaru Usman proved once again that he’s the best welterweight on the planet with another jaw-dropping performance in the UFC 258 main event.
This time around, however, Usman had to face a former teammate in Gilbert Burns and while it was not the ideal scenario, he showed there are no friends in the octagon as he survived an early scare and then finished the No.1 ranked welterweight contender with strikes in the third round.
“This one was a tough one,” Usman said following his 13th straight win in the division. “It was a very, very tough one. The whole gym situation with me leaving, first and foremost, you cannot discredit what Gilbert Burns has done in this division. We started together. He showed it tonight. But I said it, I’m the varsity guy. My fight IQ is different.
“I’m a whole other savage. From start to finish, I’m a whole other savage and he saw that tonight.”
There was no glove-touch to start the fight, which led to an intense opening that had Burns just marching Usman down and unloading with a huge overhand right that dropped the champion to the ground during the first exchange.
Burns followed up with another stiff punch that kept Usman on wobbly legs but the challenger did not exert himself too much once he realized his former teammate had recovered.
While Burns was still connecting with more power shots on the feet, Usman began establishing a good lead jab that was landing with regularity. Once Usman established the jab with his left, he began unloading the right hand behind it and Burns was struggling to stop either punch.
As soon as the third round started, Usman had actually switched from orthodox to southpaw and that’s when he unleashed another jab — this time with a stinging right hand that put Burns down for the final time.
Once Burns hit the ground, Usman followed up with a punishing barrage of strikes and referee Herb Dean had no choice but to stop the contest with the end coming at just 34 seconds into the third round.
After the man embraced Burns, who had tears running down his face as he suffered a loss at his first attempt at becoming a UFC champion.