“Scary facing a guy like that” – Stephen Thompson has shock prediction for Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261

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4 years ago

Kamaru Usman of Nigeria and Jorge Masvidal face off during the UFC 251 official weigh-in inside Flash Forum at UFC Fight Island on July 10, 2020 on Yas Island Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Stephen Thompson shares prediction for Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal 2, scheduled to take place at UFC 261

Jorge Masvidal has the title match he wanted. ‘Gamebred’ will take on Kamaru Usman for the welterweight belt at UFC 261.

The main event, scheduled to take place on 12th July 2021 in Abu Dhabi, will be a rematch of these two fighters’ UFC 251 title bout.

And back then, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ ran out an easy winner. But this time, Masvidal has a better chance.

Kamaru Usman kicks Jorge Masvidal in their UFC welterweight championship fight during UFC 251. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

At least this is what Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson thinks, who shared his prediction for the title bout on Submission Radio.

“This is what you expect from the guy. He’s [Kamaru] going to want to get him to the ground. You don’t see a tremendous amount of improvement from Usman; I know his striking has improved, but you don’t see anything crazy. He doesn’t do anything that surprises you, like spin kicks.”

Wonderboy leans towards Gamebred in his prediction for Usman vs Masvidal 2

And due to the lack of major improvement and the absence of the ‘wow’ factor, Thompson is leaning towards Masvidal.

“… or do anything wow like flying knees that Jorge Masvidal brings to the game. You have got to worry about that stuff, like ‘what does he have up his sleeve?’… For Usman, usually, you see what you get, right? So I think, I’m leaning a little towards Jorge Masvidal for this one.”

Wonderboy added that he wants to see Gamebred win the fight as well. And while that is a surprising prediction, it is one that Masvidal would obviously agree with himself.

The NMF conceded that the fight was too close to call early on in the interview, but him siding with Masvidal was something of a surprise.

It will be interesting to see who comes out the victor in the title rematch. There is still time to go before both of them are inside the octagon, though, and until then, we can only speculate as to what will happen once the bell rings.