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After the mind games, the brutal physicality of the UFC will come to the fore on the magnificent Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning.
Kamaru Usman, the welterweight champion, will lock horns with the BMF title-holder Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 251 main event at Flash Forum.
It's been a week full of high drama as Masvidal stepped in to replace Gilbert Burns after the latter had tested positive for Covid-19.
Wearing face masks to keep an invisible enemy named coronavirus at bay, Usman and Masvidal have constantly been at each other's throats, trading insults before their mouthwatering clash.
Usman, defending his title for the second time, feels he can toy with any type of fighter at will, be it Masvidal or Burns.
"I consider myself a hybrid fighter. I can do it all. I think I have the best fight IQ in the game. It's just a matter of me going out there and just figuring it out," Usman said.
"I always like learning on the job. I can do whatever I want to do. If I want to keep him (Masvidal) standing, I am going to do it. If I want to take him down and hear him squeal, I might do that."
The 'Nigerian Nightmare' is unperturbed by Masvidal's jibes.
"I am too a martial artist. I don't care for all the trash talk. I got into this to be a martial artist, not to be a trash-talking genius and machine. Everything I say is fact. I just don't think this guy's on my level and I am to going to go out there and prove it," the 33-year-old added.
But Masvidal, who holds the five-second knockout record, is ready to respond with his 'super necessary' punches.
"The opponent in front of me is very tameable. Pretty soon it'll be party time," the 35-year-old fighter said.
The American is hungry and got a 'special recipe' for Usman.
"It would definitely mean a lot. It would put another stamp on my career, another achievement, another mark. But it's also the way in which you do it, you know. I've got a lot of plans in my head. I've got a special recipe for how I'm going to get this done, with a lot of secret sauce," 'Masvidal added.
The bout promises a melting pot of action, aggression and takedowns.
Apart from the most hotly anticipated encounter of UFC 251 pay-per-view, there will be two more titles on the line.
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt against Max Holloway. And Petr Yan battles Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight belt.
There are two women's fights in the main card with Jessica Andrade facing Rose Namajunas in the strawweight division and Amanda Ribas fighting Paige VanZant in the flyweight division.
The action begins at 2 am with four early preliminary fights and preliminary rounds of four fights from 4 a.m.
The main cards get underway at 6 a.m.
FIGHT ISLAND SCHEDULE:
Sunday (UAE Time)
Main Card (6 am)
Welterweight: Kamaru Usman (c) vs Jorge Masvidal
Featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs Max Holloway
Bantamweight: Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo
Women's Strawweight: Jessica Andrade vs Rose Namajunas
Women's Flyweight: Amanda Ribas vs Paige VanZant
Preliminary Card (4 am)
Light Heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir vs Jiri Prochazka
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs Muslim Salikhov
Featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani vs Danny Henry
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos vs Roman Bogatov
Early Preliminary Card (2 am)
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura vs Maxim Grishin
Catchweight: Raulian Paiva vs Zhalgas Zhumagulov
Women's Catchweight: Karol Rosa vs Vanessa Melo
Bantamweight: Davey Grant vs Martin Day
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