The American fighter lost the possibility of achieving the Wélter world weight championship after losing by unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman, Nigerian fighter who owned the belt. It should be noted that Masvidal accepted the fight 6 days before the event because Gilbert Burns, the challenger, tested positive for Covid-19, which slowed his participation.
Jorge Masvidal was chosen to replace Gilbert Burns, who tested positive for Coronavirus and was prevented from attending the octagon where he would face «The Nigerian Nightmare». Due to this, the fighter of Cuban and Peruvian descent accepted the challenge of facing the African without having prepared himself physically and mentally for the fight, something that was noticed when he was already in the ring.
In the first round and as usual, Masvidal came out strong with his legs and connected a good pair of kicks, but Usman would start to carry the fight close to the bars and the canvas, something that was repeated throughout the match and was key to neutralize the American’s attacks.
Already in the second round, Usman made the match his own by knocking down Masvidal for the first time and connecting good blows to his side. The fatigue of the Miami native was notorious; However, he knew how to redo each fall to the canvas and contained the attacks of the Nigerian, who always looked for the fight below.
After the 5 rounds, the judges gave Usman the victory by unanimous decision, since the dominance of the African had been noticed in the last 4 rounds. At 35, Masvidal could not be crowned, but he was surprised due to the short preparation time and because he had not had a fight agreed to 5 rounds since 2011.
