Before he became the top welterweight in the UFC, Kamaru Usman was a standout wrestler at Nebraska-Kearney.
On Saturday night at UFC 251, Usman retained his title with a dominating victory over Jorge Masvidal.
The event served as the first in the “Fight Island” series set from Abu Dhabi and Yas Island.
Usman controlled Masvidal with both his striking and wrestling. He out-landed the slugger and connected on numerous takedown attempts.
While competing for Nebraska-Kearney, Usman was a national champion at the NCAA Div. II level.
The card also featured Alexander Volkanovski defending his featherweight title over Max Holloway and Petr Yan becoming the new bantamweight champion with a finish of Jose Aldo.
Kamaru Usman def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to remain UFC welterweight champion
Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) to remain UFC featherweight champion
Petr Yan def. Jose Aldo via TKO (strikes) at 3:24 of Round 5 to become the new UFC bantamweight champion
Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant via submission (armbar) at 2:21 of Round 1
Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir via KO (strike) at :49 of Round 2
Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry via submission (anaconda choke) at 3:15 of Round 1
Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Davey Grant def. Martin Day via KO (strike) at 2:38 of Round 3