Coming off of a huge card last month, the UFC put the welterweight champion in the main event at UFC 258 for an exciting bout against his extremely talented teammate. The energy in this fight was unlike any other, but some of the other bouts before the main event were also wildly entertaining.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 258 preview.
Prelim Highlights
In an early women’s strawweight bout, Polyana Viana showed off some very impressive grappling skills in a submission victory over Mallory Martin. Her control and transitions were flawless and allowed her to score an armbar in the first round. Martin tried to tough it out but was eventually forced to tap. Interestingly, this marks three straight fights for Viana that ended with an amber in the first round, with her winning the last two.
In a welterweight matchup, 13th-ranked Belal Muhammad smothered Diego Lima with a relentless pace en route to a dominant decision victory. Lima scored some big calf kicks that clearly hurt Muhammad, but that was about all the offense he could muster as Muhammad kept up the pressure for 15 minutes.
In the final prelim of the night, we were treated to an absolutely wild show. The heavy favorite Rodolfo Vieira looked as though he had this fight well in control when he took Anthony Hernandez down and got his back in the first couple of minutes. Hernandez withstood the assault from the the top-level jiu jitsu fighter and worked back to his feet. After trying so hard to get the submission victory, Vieira was completely gassed and Hernandez teed off on him. The +300 underdog eventually managed to lock in a choke and force the world class submission specialist to tapout. It was a shocking result and a wildly entertaining fight.
Main Card Highlights
The first fight on the main card, kept that momentum rolling when Julian Marquez showed some incredible determination after taking a beating in the first two rounds. Maki Pitolo surprised him by employing a grappling-heavy gameplan and controlling most of the fight, but Marquez weathered the storm for two round and managed to land some big shots in the third before scoring the submission victory. It was a great performance and a huge win for someone who hadn’t fought since 2018.
Ricky Simon put on an absolute clinic in pressure, overwhelming Brian Kelleher with a relentless pace en route to a decision win. Simon cut Kelleher with an elbow early in the fight and it visibly bothered him for the rest of the bout. That was just the start of his discomfort though as Simon constantly had Kelleher in bad positions, resulting in a big win for the featherweight contender.
Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch
In a battle of two ranked middleweights, Kelvin Gastelum proved that there is no substitution for octagon experience. The favored veteran out-wrestled the accomplished wrestler Ian Heinisch and earned himself an impressive decision victory. Gastelum scored some thunderous takedowns and, while he wasn’t able to hold Heinisch down for very long, he controlled the octagon and dictated the pace of the fight. It was a much needed win for the ninth-ranked middleweight who should be in line for a big fight in the near future.
My pick: Gastelum via 3rd round knockout
Result: Gastelum via decision
Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso
The co-main event featured two of the top women’s flyweights and again experience proved to be very important. Alexa Grasso trusted her hands and out-struck the 22-year-old Maycee Barber. Grasso looked much more calm and collected in the cage while Barber seemed to show a lot more wasted movement. Grasso threw much cleaner strikes, getting the best of almost every exchange, but she also showed some impressive grappling for a stretch in the second round. That was a skill that had previously been missing from her game and could take her to the next level. As for Barber, she really went all out for a finish in the third round, knowing she was behind on the scorecards. This will show up as a loss on her record, but Barber will certainly earn some respect with this performance.
My pick: Barber via decision
Result: Grasso via decision
Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns
This main event had a different feel from most as these two fighters entered the octagon as former teammates and friends. They both stated that there is certainly no bad blood between them but their friendship also wouldn’t change the way fight and there was definitely a level of intensity between them that isn’t normally there.
That intensity never let up. Burns almost shocked the world just minutes into the fight when he landed several big punches and stunned the champion. The challenger won the first round in a big way and had a lot of fight fans, myself included, second guessing their picks. That didn’t last all that long though. Usman found his range in the second round and really started working a very stiff jab. With the scorecards likely even after two rounds, it was just seconds into the third when Usman dropped Burns for a second time and eventually put him away. With this win, Usman passed Georges St. Pierre for the longest win streak in the history of the UFC’s welterweight division with 13.
This fight brought a new level of intensity that I have never seen in the UFC. Despite the fact that these guys are friends, they shared some very intense staredowns between rounds and refused to touch gloves. After the fight, they showed a tremendous amount of respect for each other, but during the bout, the intensity was on another level.
My pick: Usman via decision
Result: Usman via 3rd round knockout
UFC 258 was an incredible night of fights with some really spectacular performances. We saw some amazing comebacks from Anthony Hernandez, Julian Marquez and even the champ Kamaru Usman. The only problem for the UFC now is what to do next with the dominant champion. He has just about cleaned out the welterweight division and there aren’t many names left on the list to challenge him.
The UFC will return to ESPN+ on Saturday, February 20 for UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis. Be sure to check back next week for a preview of the event.