Kamaru Usman will finally defend his welterweight belt against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258
As reported by Raphael Marinho of Brazilian MMA news outlet Combate, reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is set to defend his title against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258.
Kamaru Usman was previously booked to defend his title against Burns on two separate occasions this year. However, the fight booking fell apart both times owing to illness/injury issues.
Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns have amazed one and all with their recent performances
Kamaru Usman captured the UFC welterweight with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Tyron Woodley in March of last year. The Nigerian Nightmare then proceeded to successfully defend his title via a fifth-round TKO against archrival Colby Covington last December.
Following the title defense against Covington, Usman was scheduled to face Gilbert Burns at UFC 251 in July of this year. Burns moved up from the lightweight division to welterweight last year and has since secured four consecutive wins at welterweight.
Burns’ most recent win was a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Tyron Woodley in May 2020. Needless to say, the vast majority of MMA fans and experts hailed the Usman vs. Burns fight booking at UFC 251 as a fight that could turn out to be one of the most exciting showdowns of 2020.
However, prior to their UFC 251 fight, Burns tested positive for COVID-19 and was resultantly coerced to withdraw from his title fight against Usman.
Jorge Masvidal stepped in on short notice to replace Burns in the UFC welterweight title fight at UFC 251. Kamaru Usman successfully defended his belt against Masvidal via unanimous decision in the headlining bout of the UFC 251 event.
Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns will finally take place at UFC 258
In the aftermath of his unanimous decision win over Masvidal, Kamaru Usman was once again booked to defend his title against Gilbert Burns.
Usman vs. Burns was rescheduled to take place this December at the upcoming UFC 256 event. Then Usman withdrew from UFC 256 due to injury issues.
With the much-awaited fight between Usman and Burns being canceled not once but twice in 2020, the UFC has now reportedly booked the duo to face one another in early 2021.
The UFC 258 fight card is set to take place on February 13th, 2021. Fans can expect official details regarding the event to be announced by the UFC in the days to come.