Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns set to headline UFC 258 in February
Reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will return to the cage for his highly-anticipated title defense fight against top contender Gilbert Burns in February, according to ESPN. News of the fight was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN, as the UFC tries for the third time to make the fight between Usman and Burns.
The first time these were set to meet, Burns had to withdraw due to testing positive for COVID-19 which led to ‘BMF’ champion Jorge Masvidal stepping up on six days notice to face Usman at UFC 251, a fight that Usman would go on to win by unanimous decision.
After defending his title for the second time, Usman was reportedly set to face Burns in December but had to withdraw to give himself more time to recover from injuries in the last fight. Now it appears the third time may be the charm, and Usman will finally step inside the Octagon with the most deserving contender, Gilbert Burns.
Kamaru Usman will be looking to defend his title for the third time since winning the title from Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 back in 2019, and he has since gone on to defend his belt over the aforementioned Masvidal at UFC 251 and bitter rival Colby Covington at UFC 245 in December of 2019. Overall in his professional career Usman has a 17-1 record with his lone loss coming back in 2013.
As he looks to continue his title defense streak, Usman will face a very worthy challenger in Burns who skyrocketed to the top of the contender list with a first-round finish of Demian Maia, a decision win over Gunnar Nelson, and most recently a very impressive showing over former champion Tyron Woodley.
UFC 258 is set to take place on February 13 2021 and these bouts have been reported for the event, including the welterweight title fight which has been agreed to but not yet officially signed.
- Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns for welterweight title
- Maycee Barber vs Alexa Grasso
- Chris Weidman vs Uriah Hall
- Kelvin Gastelum vs Ian Heinisch
- Polyana Viana vs Mallory Martin
- Gabe Green vs Philip Rowe
- Julian Marquez vs Maki Pitolo
