After a good start, Gilbert Durinho is knocked out by Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 258 | combat

The look before the fight started was tense. Durinho extended his glove to salute, but the champion did not return the gesture. And the Brazilian broke in the first seconds and a right cross exploded in the face of the Nigerian, who bent his knees but did not fall. Durinho went on the attack, but lost his balance after a high kick. Usman avoided going to the ground, kicked his legs. Entering with a punch, the Nigerian escaped from a fast boat on the arm, and the Brazilian rose to his feet, escaping well from the clinch. Durinho’s right hand again touched the champion’s face, who at this point took the center of the octagon and worked his jabs to control the distance. In the final seconds, the challenger landed a good sequence of punches. During the break, they laughed and greeted each other.

Usman returned active on the jabs, but the Brazilian responded with low kicks. Durinho played the center of the octagon all the time to avoid getting caught on the grid, but the Nigerian came back connecting more shots. About halfway through the round, the champion hit a bomb in his right hand and swung Durinho. The Brazilian tried to look for the fall, but he already looked shocked and began to receive many blows to the face. While attempting an attack, he received a jab and fell to the ground, but quickly got up and survived until the end of the round.

The punishment in the second round had its price charged in the third. A bomb on the right threw Durinho to the ground and Usman smelled blood. With a brutal sequence of punches, he forced the interruption of center referee Herb Dean and defended the belt.

Grasso suffers in the end, but defeats Barber

In the co-main event, Alexa Grasso was superior in boxing and grappling in the first two rounds and it was enough to win the fight against Maycee Barber by unanimous decision (triple 29-28). The American reacted in the last five minutes, gave her rival work, but the Mexican resisted and scored the second consecutive victory, while Barber lost for the second time in his career, after losing his unbeaten record in his last appointment, against Roxanne Modaferri.

With confident performance, Gastelum puts an end to the negative sequence

After three defeats in a row, Kelvin Gastelum entered the tight octagon and was pragmatic to overcome Ian Heinisch by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 and 29-28). The No. 9 of the middleweight division (up to 84 kg) used his struggle to control his rival and rediscover the winning streak after almost three years without having his arm lifted. Heinisch, 15th in the division, lost for the third time in four fights.

Coming from wrestling, Gastelum used his takedown game to control his rival for most of the fight. Despite passing some scares in the third round, especially when Heinisch dominated his back, the fighter knew how to reverse his bad positions and handled the fight well.

See all the fights from the event:

PRINCIPAL CARD
Kamaru Usman defeated Gilbert Durinho by technical knockout 34 seconds from R3
Alexa Grasso defeated Maycee Barber by unanimous decision (triple 29-28)
Kelvin Gastelum defeated Ian Heinisch by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 and 29-28)
Ricky Simón defeated Brian Kelleher by unanimous decision (triple 30-27)
Julian Márquez defeated Maki Pitolo by submission at 4m17 in R3
PRELIMINARY CARD
Anthony Hernandez defeated Rodolfo Vieira by submission 1m53s by R2
Belal Muhammad defeated Dhiego Lima by unanimous decision (triple 30-27)
Polyana Viana defeated Mallory Martin by submission in 3m18 of R1
Chris Gutiérrez defeated Andre Ewell by unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28 and 29-27)
Gabe Green defeated Philip Rowe by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 and 29-28)

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