[Event] UFC 258 - Usman vs. Burns - Feb 13

Dent · **Posted:** Tue Feb 09, 2021 1:15 pm

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UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on February 13, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

Fight card

Main card

Welterweight Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Gilbert Burns Welterweight Championship
Women's Flyweight Maycee Barber vs. Alexa Grasso
Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum vs. Ian Heinisch
Middleweight Maki Pitolo vs. Julian Marquez
Lightweight Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller

Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+)

Middleweight Rodolfo Viera vs. Anthony Hernandez
Welterweight Belal Muhammad vs. Dhiego Lima
Women's Strawweight Polyana Viana vs. Mallory Martin
Catchweight (140 lb) Andre Ewell vs. Chris Gutiérrez

Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)

Featherweight Ricky Simon vs. Brian Kelleher
Welterweight Gabriel Green vs. Philip Rowe
Women's Flyweight Gillian Robertson vs. Miranda Maverick

Background

A UFC Welterweight Championship bout between the current champion Kamaru Usman (also The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight winner) and Gilbert Burns is expected to headline the event. The duo was previously scheduled to meet in July of 2020 at UFC 251. However, it was announced on July 3 that Burns was pulled from the contest after he and his coach, Greg Jones, tested positive for COVID-19. They were also briefly targeted to headline UFC 256, but Usman pulled out citing more time needed to recover from undisclosed injuries.

A middleweight bout between former interim UFC Middleweight Championship challenger Kelvin Gastelum (also The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winner) and Ian Heinisch was originally expected to take place at a planned event on January 30. However, the UFC opted against holding a Fight Night on that date and rescheduled the contest to this card.

A middleweight bout between five-time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion Rodolfo Vieira and Anthony Hernandez was expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar. However, Hernandez pulled out due to a positive COVID-19 test and they were rescheduled for this event.

A bantamweight rematch featuring Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera was also expected to take place at the planned January 30 date. They previously met at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 on November 2015, when Rivera won via split decision. The pairing was then rescheduled for UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny, before being moved once again, as they were booked to this event due to undisclosed reasons. During the week leading up to the event, the bout was delayed again due to a positive COVID-19 test for someone within the two camps. The pairing is expected to remain intact and is tentatively expected to take place two weeks later at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane.

A welterweight bout between Dhiego Lima and Belal Muhammad was originally expected to take place in December of 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal. However, Muhammad was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the week leading up to the event and the bout was scrapped. The pairing was left intact and is expected to take place at this event.

A featherweight bout between Brian Kelleher and Ricky Simon is expected to take place at the event. The pairing has been scheduled and cancelled twice before. First, in September of 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai, but Simon's cornerman tested positive for COVID-19 and he was forced to withdraw from the event. The pairing was then rescheduled for UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar, but this time Kelleher tested positive and was pulled from the bout.

A middleweight rematch between former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall was expected to take place at this event. They met previously in September 2010 at a Ring of Combat event for the organization's middleweight title, with Weidman winning via TKO. However, Weidman was pulled from the event in late-January due to a positive COVID-19 test. The pairing is expected to remain intact and will be rescheduled to take place at UFC 261.

A lightweight bout between Bobby Green and Jim Miller has been scheduled for the event. The pairing was previously scheduled to meet in April of 2014 at UFC 172. However, Green pulled out of that bout citing an elbow injury and was replaced by Yancy Medeiros.

Feb 11 - Updated fight card & background

[Event] UFC 258 - Usman vs. Burns - Feb 13

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