Michael Bisping predicts the winner of Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal rematch at UFC 261
Michael Bisping believes Kamaru Usman will once again emerge victorious against Jorge Masvidal in their highly-anticipated rematch at UFC 261. While Bisping expects to see a different battle than their first encounter, The Count claims Usman will once again prove to be too much to handle for Gamebred.
On his Believe You Me podcast, Michael Bisping discussed what Jorge Masvidal needs to do in order to put up a tougher stand against Usman this time around. Bisping believes that although Jorge Masvidal will be much better prepared to prevent takedown attempts in this fight, he will inevitably get taken down by The Nigerian Nightmare.
"Masvidal's going to have a much better time scrambling and defending takedowns. He did okay in the first round but as the fight progressed it was more and more control against the fence, foot stomps, shoulder bumps, and takedowns, a little bit of ground and pound and then rinse and repeat."
"For Masvidal, he's going to get taken down right, that's a fact. Usman is so strong and so big and he's so good and so skilled he's going to take Masvidal down. But Masvidal getting back on his feet will be more frequent. You've just got to move and make a separation. If you're flat on your back, you've got to get on your side. You do whatever you can to get to the fence. There's ways of doing it but it requires energy and it requires strength. If you get tired, the strength goes out of the window as well."
According to Bisping, Jorge Masvidal must look to avoid engaging with Usman at all costs. He must stay on the outside, keep moving, changing angles, and tagging away at the champion whenever he finds the opportunity to do so. But at the end of the day, Bisping believes Usman's skills inside the octagon are much more likely to earn him another win over Masvidal.
"I understand Masvidal's frustration and understand him wanting to go back in there, but I am not necessarily sure if the fight will go down any different."
Can Jorge Masvidal avenge his previous loss to Kamaru Usman in their upcoming rematch?
Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman fought each other at UFC 251 when Masvidal stepped in on just six days' notice to challenge for the title. Usman won via a lopsided unanimous decision, but Masvidal claimed it was the lack of preparation that caused the defeat.
Following his TKO win against Gilbert Burns, Kamaru Usman called out Jorge Masvidal for a rematch. Usman claims he will go all out trying to finish Masvidal this time around and wants to leave no doubt as to who the true king of the UFC welterweight division really is.