UFC Welterweight superstar, Jorge Masvidal, will return to the Octagon on April 24 in a rematch bout with current UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman. UFC 261 will take place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The arena sold out all fifteen thousand seats in a matter of hours. UFC 261 headlines Masvidal’s chance to take the Welterweight belt from the current champion, Usman. Although Usman took command of their last fight in July of last year, Masvidal took the fight on six days’ notice, meaning Masvidal did not have a full training camp (8-12 weeks) to prepare for his first bout with Usman. 

Since becoming forced to put the sport on his shoulders, at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, Dana White (UFC president) has made it abundantly clear that he longs for the comeback of fans. This year, the executive has shown incredible tenacity, ingenuity, and commitment in staging events. White has borne the flame for the organization, which has managed to hold undercard bouts even after the large population of athletic sports has been halted. According to MMA Sucka, “The ambitious UFC chief has been constantly criticized throughout the pandemic as he’s voiced controversial remarks surrounding the health pandemic.” White has been working for months to hold a UFC event back in the United States, on April 24 his hard work will finally pay off. 

The last UFC event that was held in a sold-out stadium in the United States was UFC 248. Since then, Abu Dhabi has held the most previous UFC events with limited capacity enforced. Emirates Arena in Abu Dhabi displayed Mcgregor Poirier 2. According to TalkSport, “Masvidal has not fought since losing to Usman in July 2020 when he took the fight on six days notice and has been keen to have a full camp and challenge for welterweight gold again.” When asked about UFC 261, junior Beatriz Rollick stated, “I think most people will bet on Usman dominating their rematch, as he did in their first match. To be fair I don’t know much about Kamaru Usman, but I would bet on him based on how their first fight played out.” On April 24, the world will get to see if a full training camp has helped Masvidal, or if Usman is too powerful for Jorge.