UFC 258 - The Scorecard

As soon as Gilbert Burns rocked Kamaru Usman seconds into their UFC 258 main event, I thought to myself, “We jinxed Usman.” Why? Well, the last time we had the greatest welterweight of all-time conversation about someone not named Georges St-Pierre or Matt Hughes, it was before Tyron Woodley fought Usman in March 2019. Woodley lost that night, kicking off a three-fight losing streak. Fast forward nearly two years, and the pre-fight banter touched on Usman breaking GSP’s record for most consecutive welterweight victories and where he stood among the best ever. Then Burns staggered him, but Usman shook it off and then put on a dominant effort until he halted his former teammate in the third round. Best 170-pounder ever? Me, personally, I don’t like those conversations until a fighter retires, but if we’re going to have that talk, Usman’s name has to be there.

RELATED: Look At All The Results From Usman Vs Burns

When I make these lists up, I try to rank the fighters based on who the MMA world is talking about on Monday morning, and on this Monday, Anthony Hernandez is the talk of the town. Seemingly on the verge of a submission loss early in his bout against Rodolfo Vieira, Hernandez weathered the storm, put it on Vieira with his hands (and an elbow), and in the second round he submitted the world-class jiu-jitsu player. It was one of those victories (and comebacks) no one saw coming, but “Fluffy” pulled it off in style, proving once again that in combat sports, “that’s why they fight the fights.”

Numbers can be deceiving in all sports, and particularly in MMA, all three-fight losing streaks aren’t created equally. But 0-3 is 0-3, so Kelvin Gastelum needed a W in his main card bout against Ian Heinisch and he got it, putting on a disciplined effort for all three rounds. Was it the knock down, drag ‘em out fight we usually expect from Gastelum? No, but that wasn’t what he needed to win on Saturday night. He needed to stick to the game plan, nullify Heinisch’s offense and use his experience. Check, check, and check. Gastelum is still a player at 185 pounds.

RELATED: Watch Gastelum's UFC 258 Post-Fight Interview

With a 31-month layoff since his last trip to the Octagon, Julian Marquez had all the pressure on his shoulders as he returned to face Maki Pitolo at the APEX, and while he needed a finish heading into the third round to get his hand raised, he got it, and that W is all that matters to “The Cuban Missile Crisis,” who got a bonus and a social media exchange with Miley Cyrus to boot. Not a bad weekend.