UFC 258: 3 fights to look forward to most in the card
UFC 258 is scheduled to be held in the UFC Apex Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The second pay per view of 2021 will be headlined by a welterweight title bout between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. Another fight which would have featured among three fights to look forward to in UFC 258 would have been a middleweight bout between Uriah Hall and Chris Weidman. However, the co main event between the veterans had to be scrapped due to Weidman testing positive for COVID-19.
Here, we take a look at the three fights to look forward to most in UFC 258:-
#3 Kelvin Gastelum vs Ian Heinisch
Kevin Gastelum makes his return to the UFC this Saturday after having lost his last three matches consecutively at middleweight. This losing streak was set off with a classic against the reigning champion, Israel Adesanya, with the interim Middleweight belt on the line. Subsequently Gastelum failed to pick up a victory against Darren Till and then against Jack Hermansson in Fight Island.
In UFC 258 Gastelum will look to put forth a dominant performance against Ian Heinisch, who has dropped two of his past three. But Heinisch is coming of an impressive 76 seconds TKO of Gerald Meerschaert at UFC 250.
Ian Heinisch was supposed to take on rising prospect Brendan Allen last year but tested positive a week before the bout. While Gastelum looks to end his losing streak, Heinisch has been presented the opportunity of stepping up the ladder against a higher ranked opponent.
#2 Maycee Barber vs Alexa Grasso
Maycee Barber also makes her return at UFC 258 after suffering from a torn ACL against Roxanne Modafferi in UFC 246. However, prior to this the Contender Series signing had won her first three UFC bouts against Gillian Robertson, JJ Aldrich and Hannah Cifers.
On the other hand, Alexa Grasso will look to establish a winning streak after a unanimous decision victory on her flyweight debut against Ji Yeon Kim. The Mexican had decided to move up to 125 lbs in August last year after repeatedly facing issues with her weight.
This will certainly be an interesting match up as both fighters look to push themselves up the list of contenders in the division.
#1 Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns
The most looked forward to fight at UFC 258 will definitely be the Welterweight title main event between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. The bout had been scheduled twice previously for UFC 251 and UFC 256.
Burns tested positive a day before the fight in the first instance and was hurriedly replaced by Jorge Masvidal. In the second instance, Usman stated that he needed more time to recover from his injuries following a second successful title defence against Masvidal.
A Brazilian grappler savant, Burns comes off an impressive six fight winning streak at 170 lbs which includes big names like Damian Maia and Tyron Woodley.
What makes the match up even more interesting is the fact that the two have been erstwhile team mates at Sanford MMA in Florida.